Your reply is wise
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Alan Guth believes his hypothesis is correct and calls it a theory however I subscribe to the notion that hypothesis requires something more than mere belief before the grand title of "theory" can be applied
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To call another a crackpot or any other name which reflects such contempt for any other view does not elevate him or the big bang camp but rather drags it all down to a level I would prefer to live above
. He sounds more political than reasonable....
However Mr Guth is jealous and protective of his most original thought ...as are those who believe the big bang...and all are happy that his hypothesis saved the big bang from death.
I think that there may well be another answer other than inflation that would still save the big bang but will anyone look for it... ? No because enquiry stopped at the level of being able to hold off the deadly questions inflation seeks to eliminate...what were those questions anyhow????
The collision of galaxies is a matter that interests me... and those spirals with another galaxy like a banana stuck in the middle...wow what is going on there...shrug:
I think a big bang answer to your question may point out that it is space that expands and that in this context the matter within is somewhat irrelevant and free to do what it wants and respond to more local influences
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But when one attempts to visualize an expanding space the prospect of collisions seem improbable.
I have often pointed out the strange situation that exists which reveals spiral galaxies line up like buttons on a string
... rather than folk being intrigued by such curious observations I find I get replies ...
'its what you would expect in a big bang'... and so thinking on such a wonderful find is eliminated and to determine what is really going on becomes irrelevant.... for mine I feel that this system of galaxy line up is most curious and points to something going on which we need to know about... if understood may show something about our universe that indicates its reason for existence...but such thinking dies because its big bang consistent and we need no more.
Check out the line up thing and ask "why"
alex