The Bizarre Theory That Says The Universe Was Actually Created Last Thursday
The thought is terrifying.
Vadim Sadovski / Shutterstock Depending on who you ask, you might hear the idea that the universe is billions of years old, was created several thousand years ago, or, for creationists, the universe was created by God.
But one theory exists that claims the universe wasn't created thousands, millions, or billions of years ago.
This theory claims the entire universe was created... last Thursday.
In the 1857 book "Omphalos" by Philip Henry Goss, the idea of "Thursdayism" came about. His thoughts received much criticism back then, but many have come around to understand and even to believe his hypothesis.
What is Last Thursdayism?
Last Thursdayism is the concept that the universe is much younger than previously thought. It is the belief that God created the universe in a way that allowed the world to be functional right away.
This means that He created earth with mountains, rivers, and valleys in one fell swoop. Under this premise, God must have created Adam and Eve as fully formed people who magically appeared when He created the Earth.
But what about the memories we have collected and the things we have learned, you might ask. Well, with Last Thursdayism, your memories, thought books, fossils, light from distant stars, and literally everything else was formed at the moment of creation.
Goss’ theory came about at a time when scientific evidence that the universe was extremely old contradicted religious principles that God must have created everything in existence.
Goss surmised that Christians were right in their beliefs that a divine entity had created the universe. Goss thought that the organisms of the Earth were mature as soon as they were put into existence.
But what about the evidence that is purported to go back millions of years like those fossils mentioned earlier?
Goss says these are a result of introducing false evidence to coincide with our belief that the universe is old.
But this isn’t really about Thursday as a day of the week. "Thursday" just means that if the universe can be created on demand with all of the memories, it could have happened ten seconds ago or last week!
The theory cannot be disproven, so many people believe it to be true that the universe may have been "started" as recently as last Thursday.
Debunking the Last Thursdayism Theory
Rather than being considered accepted theory, Last Thursdayism is more of an extreme form of indoctrination to Goss’ "omphalitis," created to show just how crazy of an idea it is.
Assuming the universe was created at a specific time, with all of the intricacies and objects to make it seem as if it were much older, is overly complex.
Evidence of the universe’s great age includes geological formations, radiometric dating systems, and dating of the sun, moon, and solar system prove otherwise.
Then, there is uniformitarianism, the principle of natural law that states that the universe is always operating in the present, therefore has no need to recreate the past in our minds and environment.
Though it seems highly unlikely that a divine being chose to create the world and all of its complexities last Thursday, it is an unfalsifiable hypothesis with no way of being disproved.
It is a little horrifying to think of the possibility that nothing you know about yourself and the world around you is real. But, like any theory, some will believe it while others dismiss it as absurdity.
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.