What happened before the big bang? What happens after the universe ends?
These are meaningless questions because existence has an atemporal, unchanging aspect. Seen from this unchanging reference frame, there is always a big bang. Every instant of time always exists. There is always an end of the universe. It is as if there were an infinite number of universes identical to ours but displaced in time. In this picture, there are an infinite number of Dick Dolans, all infused with conscious selves. But because consciousness has no memory, each of these selves thinks that this is the first and only time that our universe has unfolded. Thus, something that is timeless and unchanging looks to us like a changing, one-shot universe with a beginning and an end. Here we have yet another paradox that has its roots in the self-referential nature of reality. By the way, the lack of memory is what makes it possible for consciousness to exist in all living humans at the same time while seeing itself as separate and unique in each case. There is only one consciousness and
