INFINITE REGRESSION

In the search for the explanation of the universe's origin, the atheist, without evidence to test by the scientific method, asserts, without rationale, that it is unnecessary to continue the search because either there is no cause or the cause is unknowable. The theist is quick to conclude that God created the universe because the Bible says it is so. Stephen Hawking explains how something came from nothing or translated; time and space produce something. But the philosopher demurs with the infinite regression conundrum.

The atheist and the agnostic share the philosopher's correct answer.

The theist eschews the search for evidence and the use of reason in favor of a fictional and unverifiable answer based on the assumption that the question is quickly answered. The atheist also stops the inquiry by arbitrarily pronouncing, without supporting rationale, that the search is over. Or, it is possible that something can come from nothing, a theory so far not proven to the layman's satisfaction. However, even if established, the idea is still subject to the problem of infinite regression. If something from nothing, what caused something, and then what caused that.

What if infinite regression is the first law of physics. There will always be an endless search for a first cause. The overarching immutable law is no first cause. To the layman, Stephen Hawking supports this view when he explains the origin of the Big Bang. But is that not the position the atheist takes now. The difference is the atheist should not suggest the inquiry is over because that position lacks support in evidence or rationale. Instead, the journey in search of the first cause goes on. The correct position is agnosticism.

Astrophysicists can reliably predict that our universe will survive for trillions of years and perhaps more. Other universes probably exist. We will not.

Our species may never know the origin of the universe. In the present, the atheist wins, for there is no credible evidence of a god as a cause. For the projection into the future, the agnostic wins.