Reply To: T-shirt designers unite and take over

[prosario_2000]

I do not favor the Big Bang Theory, but I don’t tend to be overly aggressive against it. For example, I think that the unfair assumption that scientists adopt the Big Bang because it was formulated by a priest and reminds us of Genesis. I also dismiss the accusation that the Big Bang says that the universe came “out of nothing”. In reality, Big Bang theorists adopt the point of view that the universe sprang from a singularity (and that’s not “nothing”).

Also I might add that I’m not in “principle” against the Big Bang Theory. From a philosophical standpoint, it can be viewed as a metaphysical research program (in the Popperian sense). A metaphysical research program is a defined conceptual framework within a paradigm that can serve as basis for theories, laws and hypotheses. However, I do not consider the Big Bang Theory as a theory properly speaking. Why? Ideally (not in every single case), formulated theories must have predictive value (posited laws, given certain conditions, must predict certain phenomena); it should be confirmed by experience; and the formulated theory must avoid ad hoc hypotheses as much as possible. I might add that we have to consider theories should have real predictions, not postdictions (“predictions” formulated on the basis of already known phenomena). Postdictions are not worthless, but theories with real predictions have more worth. For example, in terms of postdictions, the Newtonian theory of gravity could predict the orbits of all the planets known in Newton’s time (except Mercury), but it also let scientists predict the existence of other planets with accuracy (Uranus and Neptune).

Unfortunately, the Big Bang Theory has little or no predictive value, and depends greatly on ad hoc hypotheses (sometimes gross ones). Let’s look at the presumed predictions made by the theory.

1. The Hubble Expansion: This is a case of postdiction. Edwin Hubble found a correlation between the apparent brightness of spiral nebulae (galaxies) and their spectral redshift. Since he discovered that these spiral nebulae were galaxies, and that the lines of the spectrum were moving to red, some concluded that galaxies were getting further and further away from us. The Big Bang Theory, already formulated by Lema