Re: Beginnings

It's impossible to say when the beginning was. One could look at the Universe now (for some specific and therefore finite now that has already passed).  Every proton is involved in however many relationships are in its vicinity.  This could be anything from anhydrogen ion to one of many in a vastly complex molecule we haven't the means to grasp yet.  

One Planck second after now, at least one of the protonic relationships will have changed, and this is true for every subsequent Planck second until the Universe is composed totally of entropy.

This now I'm talking about here, the first now, is compared to some equally finite point in the future (defined as having more overall entropy).  Eventually, every proton will be in a completely different set of relationships than they are now.  

This goes backwards, too.  At some point in the past, the first relationship of all the relationships that exist now formed.  That point could be the beginning of now.

What if this predates the Big Bang?  II used to think that question had no meaning, like asking what's East of the South Pole? There could be something before then, but the Big Bang is the earliest possible point for the beginning of now as described above.  

A more relevant beginning may be set much later, like when all the protons in our planetary system (instead of Universe) were in different relationships, so 4.5 billion years rather than 13.7 for everything.