Starship Asterisk*

If the big bang is the chosen method of inception, and we all originated from a single spot in the universe, then how can we possibly look back in time (so to speak) and say things like "we are looking at our universe as it was 10billion years ago..." when we originated from the same spot at the same time as all other matter in the universe? surely we are all experiencing the same effects of the big bang as each other?

confused.

wonderboy wrote:If the big bang is the chosen method of inception, and we all originated from a single spot in the universe, then how can we possibly look back in time (so to speak) and say things like "we are looking at our universe as it was 10billion years ago..." when we originated from the same spot at the same time as all other matter in the universe? surely we are all experiencing the same effects of the big bang as each other?

confused.

Not sure from your description just where the confusion lies. As the Universe expanded, material became separated. The idea of different places came into being. We are in one place, other stuff is in different places. And because of the finite speed of light, everything we observe represents the past- a few nanoseconds for stuff on the table in front of you, a few minutes or hours for things in our Solar System, a few centuries for nearby stars, or billions of years for distant galaxies.

How does this conflict with the idea that all parts of the Universe are experiencing the same effects of the Big Bang? You and I, individually, are experiencing the same moment of time, but neither of us can observe the other at that same moment.

wonderboy wrote:
surely we are all experiencing the same effects of the big bang as each other?

confused.

You are, at the very least, ignoring quantum fluctuations, the second law of thermodynamics and chaos theory.

(And don't call me Shirley!)