Big Bang
"So you really think the Big Bang was an expression of force of will?"
Dr. Qworm the mad scientist was amazed. He had always been taught that the creation of the universe had been the result of a series of physical laws that still ruled the universe today, but that they just hadn't been discovered yet.
"The Flight from Omnipotence[1] theory would tend to prove it, in any case," Sarkon the Prophet assessed with the most serious look he could muster. "Fact is, some force must have triggered the explosion of the universe, since things don't 'just happen' without a cause. Of course, it could be a force that is not detectable any more, but I like to think it is still present in some form, and not only in some Star Wars movies. What's more, the force at the origin of the creation of time and matter must be independent from those, because otherwise it would have needed time and matter to be set into motion in the first place. And the only force we know that might be independent from spacetime[2] is the force of will!"
"Force of will… Force of will…" Dr. Qworm pondered. "But it must have been someone's force of will!" he exclaimed. "A force of will doesn't exist by itself!"
"Force of will – or name it consciousness if you want to – is a necessary element to the universe. If no consciousness was there to witness it, the universe's existence would be so meaningless that it actually would not exist, since it would exist for no one," explained Sarkon. "What I mean is that in the worst of cases, matter consciously evolved into consciousness, which implies that consciousness had to be there all along, from the beginning of the universe to now. Consciousness is a concept that is much too fundamental to the universe to be the result of a random evolution, because without consciousness, there would be nothing."
"So you think some superior being created the world, then?" asked Dr. Qworm, somehow disappointed. "I thought we agreed that the universe must explain itself…"
Sarkon threw his arms wide apart in dismay. "Did I say anything about a superior being? I was just speaking about consciousness, and definitely not a superior one. Why should we look somewhere else for something we have right under our noses? Well, behind our noses, in any case… Anyway, if you want to know, if I had to define the force of will that, as I think, created the universe, I would even say it was the force of will of an inferior being –"
"Inferior? Now there's no need to get blasphemous," Dr. Qworm frowned.
"Well, 'inferior' as in 'less evolved', in any case," Sarkon justified himself. "Have you ever heard of evolution going backwards? If the universe was created by a being's force of will, it must have been the 'zero being' – consciousness at the zeroth stadium of evolution, thus necessarily less evolved than we are. But actually I don't think we can speak of a being. I think it was just a force."
"But what happened to this force, then? Why isn't it represented in any mathematical formula?" asked Dr. Qworm.
"Because nobody did it yet? Or because it is independent from time and matter, and thus cannot be included in formulas based on these concepts?" answered Sarkon. "How would I know? I am no scientist, just a prophet! All I know is that this force is still at work: cars and TV and computers have not been created by any physical laws, but by consciousness – by force of will. The mere fact that this force is still the main creative factor in the world today should be enough of a hint for us to wonder if it might not have been so fifteen billion years ago, too!"
"Hmm…" Dr. Qworm stroked his chin. "But if a less evolved being was able to create a whole universe, shouldn't we be able to do so, too?"
Sarkon just shrugged. "In a way, we do so already - every time we give birth…"
"I mean, not a used universe – a new one! Start a Big Bang, you know!" Dr. Qworm was getting enthusiastic.
"Well, if the Big Bang really was a singularity, all the force of will in today's universe had to be concentrated on one point just as space and matter were, so that there was a lot to start it all… Now it is rather scattered, since trillions and trillions of beings share it… But then, maybe it is a force that is not conserved, so maybe there is much more of it now than there was at the beginning. Maybe only a very little force of will was needed to start the universe… Who knows? In any case, you can always try!" Sarkon patted his friend the mad scientist on the back.
"You bet I will!" Dr. Qworm exclaimed. "You bet I will!"
* * *
Back in his laboratory, Dr. Qworm prepared himself for the ultimate experiment – the starting of a Big Bang. All a matter of force of will? He was certain he had more than enough. He turned off all lights, lay down on his psychiatric couch, closed his eyes and concentrated on creating a Big Bang.
Nothing happened.
He tried relaxing. His muscles were tense from the excitement, so it took quite an effort to loosen them all up. But after he'd exhausted himself relaxing, he still didn't have his Big Bang.
So he tried tensing his muscles again. He just wanted wanted wanted wanted wanted his Big Bang so much, there was no way he wasn't going to get it! His face distorted in a twist of want, his fists clenched, his stomach muscles contracted…
*Fart!*
* * *
After Dr. Qworm had wiped his tears away from a full five minutes of continuous laughing, he had to admit that Sarkon the prophet had been right: the Big Bang was a product of force of will. The forms such a Big Bang could take, however, were rather surprising occasionally: sometimes you got a universe, sometimes you got… well… just a bad smell!