the big bang is a singularity; we can't ever experimentally learn anything about what came before it. that doesn't mean there was no time before the big bang,

the big bang is a singularity; we can't ever experimentally learn anything about what came before it. that doesn't mean there was no time before the big bang, or no gravity, or that there wasn't another universe just like ours. But due to the singularity, for the sake of convenience, we simply _say_ that those things came into existence at the big bang. cite: https://www.hawking.org.uk/in-words/lectures/the-beginning-of-time https://www.hawking.org.uk/in-words/lectures/the-beginning-o... , search for "may as well"