OK......We are asked to believe that there was this big bang......?.....?.....?....not exactly convincing, is it?

But I would hesitate to label your beliefs as "utterly brainless bollocks. Do you think you could manage an apology Steve?

Nobody's asking you to believe anything. I don't believe in the Big Bang. I seek out the science of the bloody thing, apply what limited intellect I possess to it, and come to a provisional conclusion. My provisional conclusion is that that there is a lot of convincing evidence for the Big Bang and very little evidence for any proposed alternative. Belief don't come into it. My convictions may well be bollocks but they are not brainless bollocks because, pathetic though my tiny brain may be, I have at least applied it to the conundrum in question. Which is a damn sight more than can be said for your utterly brainless, predigested, lame, cliche-ridden, useless, senseless and dismal statement that "the more we know about the origins of the universe the less we understand it". Do allow me to suggest a reconstruction, thus: "The more we know about the origins of the universe the more we understand it". There. Now I think you owe an apology. Not to me, for I give not a flying shite, but to the world in general for being such a complete arse.