It is natural but wrong to visualize the singularity as a kind of pregnant dot hanging in a dark, boundless void. But there is no space, no darkness. The singularity has no "around" around it. There is no space for it to occupy, no place for it to be. We can't even ask how long it has been there-whether it has just lately popped into being, like a good idea, or whether it has been there forever, quietly awaiting the right moment. Time doesn't exist. There is no past for it to emerge from. And so, from nothing, our universe begins.
The concept of a singularity challenges our conventional understanding of space and time. Instead of envisioning it as a solitary point in an empty void, we must recognize that there is no surrounding space or darkness. The singularity exists without a defined area or context, which defies our natural inclination to think in terms of placement and duration. This radical notion leads us to contemplate the origin of the universe as something that emerged from a state of non-being.
As Bill Bryson points out, trying to determine the existence of a singularity in terms of past or future is pointless; it is beyond the confines of time as we understand it. There is no history or prior existence to consider, just an immediate emergence into being. Thus, our universe's beginning is a mysterious process that arises from nothingness, prompting us to rethink our perceptions of existence and reality itself.
