(October 15, 2013 at 1:37 am)Lion IRC Wrote: I think snowtracks has been mislead by reading the wrong physicists.
A lot of folk make the mistake of thinking that the laws of physics start to break down as you wind back the clock to within yocto-seconds of the big bang.
Or maybe it's a matter of guessing what that expression really even means. "...at which the laws of physics would break down."
Cue epistemology/philosophy 101
Mr Hawking's blog disclaimer about speech synthesiser text.
"...there may be incorrect spellings, punctuation and/or grammar."
Perhaps I misunderstood what he/she meant by saying that the laws of physics break down a second after the big bang, because to me it sounded like he/she was saying that the laws of physics were in tact as the big bang happened and broke down a second later.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell