Of what you write, I actually like the idea that a collapsing universe might not collapse completely.

I do not support the Steady State universe, consider it an impossibility, but I like how your mind recognizes the impossibility of moving everything backward toward a singularity, JB.

I work with (immaterial) energy as a given, it does not get lost, and recognize the Accident that had to occur (per current calculations) some 13.8 billion years ago for the current outcomes to be understood.

The Accident requires the ability to set up the conditions to create the Accident. To show that specific point, the Broken Toy story.

1. Nothing of the toy disappeared when the toy broke. Everything is still there, except now in tatters.

2. The special ability the toy was capable of performing is now gone for good. It cannot do its trick anymore.

3. The broken pieces cannot repair themselves back to one whole toy.

This storyline declares that immaterial energy in the prior state of the universe had a (collective) ability that was used to set itself up for the Accident. Plus, that ability is now gone. In highest position, we must therefore note a zero for that ability, it existed only in positive territory when all was interconnected.

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To end up with quarks as the building blocks for neutrons and protons, the quarks had to be produced from immaterial energy.

This is only possible under extreme conditions.

So, the last stage of the prior state of the energized universe was a collective inward motion. After a while, Zone 1 in the center is fully locked into place. Zone 2 is close to being locked in place, but has some friction still available. Zone 3 is the largest area of immaterial energy and applies that inward motions without experiencing any extreme conditions itself, except for close to Zone 2.

Zone 2 started to move sideways, churning.

Inward motion: Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3.

Side-way motion: Zone 2.

Zone 2 churned into a quark soup with its immaterial energy damaged due to enormous pressures combined with that torque.

Then, all energy moved outwardly. The damage in Zone 2 made the extreme conditions untenable, and the motion is therefore toward normalization of the conditions.

At the CMBR, the conditions are finally back to normal again, and yet the quarks cannot return to their original shape. They form neutrons and protons at first opportunity to establish self-based balances.

The positive charge of the proton forces the remaining immaterial energy (also moving outwardly) to provide the neutralizing aspect, the electrons.

The immaterial energy cannot undo the damage of the quarks, but they can neutralize the positive charges though just at the larger (atomic) setting.

This setup means that the largest setting in which we find ourselves is the Milky Way. We are not connected to anything else in the universe, happenstance notwithstanding.

Curious what you think of the model (I call it the Big Whisper in honor of Wilson and Penzias who discovered the whisper of the Big Bang event).

Thank you for your communications, JB. I appreciate that much.