[QUOTE=CraigS;679319]Y'know Alex;
I have come to the conclusion that it really doesn't make a difference what I believe .. which is great because I can believe whatever I like, and these beliefs are completely independent of the evidence at hand and where theory leads me.
The ultimate freedom is abandoning all beliefs...or so I believe.
Evidence is a loose term unfortunately.
A christian will point to a passage in the bible as evidence and be entirely happy that his duty of providing evidence has been adequately discharged for the argument he is supporting.
A big banger will enlist evidence contained within anothers research which although impressive still is "their" evidence" and so often evidence goes to support the side we have chosen to be on... for a big banger their evidence is rarely of personal experience but gained from anothers research and data.
Finally we can only conclude although there is evidence in support of the big bang theory as for the individual one must conclude it is belief that the big bang evidence is valid ..just as does the christian say their biblical evidence is valid...my point is both finally have beliefs in the story they support as opposed to first hand observation that makes their story valid..so I say belief is what most of us are really working with irrespective of who one calls upon in support...
EG...I know black holes exist because I have read all Steven Hawking has written and I "believe" him. I have no idea as to the science or the sums and I am in effect saying I believe him rather than I believe the science as such....
I think you have mentioned before you are a man who believes nothing .. yes I state such and try to remember that that is what I believe
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Am I to take it that your discomfort comes from some belief lurking deep down in your soul ?? 
No Craig ..the term soul relates only to what is on the bottom of my feet.
If there is any problem with what I believe in I contend it is simply this...I dont know what to believe anymore.... I wont go into why I dont believe in religion but I suspect many would question why I wont simply accept the current cold dark matter standard model of particle physics..it seems to me to have many aspects that I could accept if my mate the tarot card reader had put forward (because many concepts of the standard model are really "out there" ) but when the leaders in science lend support to some of the aspects of the model I am left wondering if the world is not in the hands of folk who are just as happy to entertain the prospect of unicorns ...really where is the support or evidence for string theory...it has assumed massive following and yet what are its foundations in observation. and so how can I believe the current science when there are aspects that confound reasonable thinking (in my view) and this is not a comment that they are right or wrong but only upon their believability... and so I dont believe and yet I can not cut myself off from learning more about their approach..I read all I can..I listen to the wonderful input given to me here..not to prove it right or wrong but simply to hear their side of things... I dont need to be convinced to listen..be it religion tarot cards or particle physics....and the more I learn the more I can accept as reasonable but also the more I feel they (everyone) really dont know as much as their posturing would lead us to conclude.
AND even if someone believes they are correct it does not mean I have to accept their belief irrespective of how conclusive they believe their evidence to be.... just because most believe the big bang does not mean I have to believe it or offer an alternative... I can simply not believe anything anymore nor do I have to....and such a stand works well because you can hear what someone has to say and simply nod and not respond with a reason why their way cant work...peace at last.
Have you not noticed I dont buy into arguments these days...mmm maybe that is not obvious but more my view of myself
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I do like the push universe concept but that does not mean I believe it is the "way"....
alex