The Pendulum Universe: A New Perspective on the Big Bang
When we think about the Big Bang, we often imagine it as the absolute beginning — the origin of time, space, and everything we know. But what if that’s not quite the full story?
What if the Big Bang was not the beginning of time itself, but merely the beginning of this universe — a swing in a cosmic pendulum that has moved before, and may swing again?
A Simple Pendulum Metaphor
Imagine a pendulum swinging back and forth. At the top of its arc, the pendulum slows, pauses briefly — and then reverses direction.
In this model:
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The top of the arc represents a cosmic reset point — the Big Bang.
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As the pendulum swings downward, time begins, and our universe starts.
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The swing downwards marks the evolution of space, time, and physical laws as we experience them.
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After billions of years, the pendulum will reach the top and swing back. A different universe begins.
Before the Bang: A Forgotten Universe?
Instead of "nothingness" before the Big Bang, imagine that the pendulum had just swung upward from an earlier universe — one completely different from our own. Not only different in contents, but in laws, constants, and even dimensions.
At the top of the swing, everything resets. Not just matter or energy, but the very rules of reality. It's a point of total transformation — no information, no structure, no laws pass from one swing to the next.
Each pendulum swing is a sealed universe, disconnected from the others.
Unlike many "cyclic universe" theories, this model isn’t about a recurring loop. It's not one universe collapsing into another in a continuous cycle.
Instead, think of it as episodes in a cosmic anthology. Each swing is its own self-contained universe. Each begins with a “Big Bang” — but not from a shared origin. No continuity of laws or logic from one swing to the next. Our universe — with its physical constants, dimensions, and time flow — is just one swing. Before it? A different one, utterly alien. After it? another, equally unknowable.
A radical discontinuity between each universe: not even the fabric of logic or causality passes from one universe to another. Each swing a birth, each top a forgetful moment. Each arc a unique, unreachable story. This model challenges the idea of a single, linear timeline. Time may not be absolute, the Big Bang may be a transition, not an origin. The universe we live in is not necessarily the only one — just one swing of the pendulum.
The important point is we might never know what came before us, or what comes after. Each universe is sealed, silent, and unique. Our universe may be one of many pendulum swings.