It now appears that the way the universe began can indeed be determined, using imaginary time.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If you take a more Darwinian point of view the dynamics of the universe are such that as the universe evolved in time, complex systems arose out of the natural dynamics of the universe.
Just as it had taken centuries to determine the true nature of the universe, so also the search for the beginning of human life proceeded well into the 20th century.
If we knew exactly the laws of nature and the situation of the universe at the initial moment, we could predict exactly the situation of the same universe at a succeeding moment.
If the universe is running down like a clock, the clock must have been wound up at a date which we could name if we knew it. The world, if it is to have an end in time, must have had a beginning in time.
People have contemplated the origin and evolution of the universe since before the time of Aristotle. Very recently, the era of speculation has given way to a time of science.
Imaginary time is a new dimension, at right angles to ordinary, real time.
I believe that the universe works how it's supposed to work.
Something pretty mysterious had to give rise to the origin of the universe.
If our inconceivably ancient universe even had any beginning, the conditions determining that beginning must even now be engraved in the atomic weights.
We should get used to the idea that we'll probably never be able to find - and confirm - a good explanation of the ultimate origin of the universe, though I see no reason to believe that we can't press much further on this question than we have managed to date.