You can't measure infinity. The inability to measure it does not mean it does not exist.devans99 wrote:Its a thought experiment and he is telling the truth. You are just having problems excepting that things without a start are paradoxical I think.
Yes, for determinists, all events/happenings are via cause and effect. But this doesn't mean cause-and-effect, effects time. Without time, there could be no causal interactions; no events/happenings.devans99 wrote:If you are a determinist then all of reality is just cause and effect.
Again, what do these causal chains have to do with the start of the universe? Without pre-existing time/space/matter, there could be NO causal interactions, nor chains.devans wrote:One version of the prime mover says you can trace these chains of cause and effect back to an original 'uncaused cause'; IE God. Whether you believe that or not; the alternative of non-terminating chains of cause and effect is unacceptable; those chains would have no start so they could not exist.
Secondly, and although irrelevant, who says causal chains must grow linearly with time? Other than one cause creating one effect, can't one 'cause' create multiple effects? And can't multiple causes create just one effect?
Again, and again, causation has absolutely nothing to do with the start/creation of time. Causation is responsible for the actions/events/happenings WITHIN the box, and has nothing to do with the creating of the box in which it resides.