>>13464992We don't actually know how old the Universe is, in terms of it's existence.
We only know how old the Universe is, in terms of what we consider observable matter and it's constituents.
The actual system that contains space-time as we know it, may have an age far greater, or possibly infinite.
We have no evidence to support this, but equally we have no evidence that dictates the system which space-time exists in, is only limited to what we observe.
We arbitrarily defined the existence of the Universe to the point at which what is observable, appears to have branched from.
Scientific definitions of the Big Bang do not claim the Big Bang "created" itself. Only that all observable matter appears to have been in one point at that time. (13.8~ billion years ago)
For our arbitrary definitions and semantic understanding, this is indistinguishable from creation, but the technical truth is that there is nothing that prevents the Universe from being older except that we have no mechanism using any of our existing scientific models that allow the Universe to be older than that point, because we can't explain how it would have occurred, and can not gather evidence beyond the observable.
Humanity put the goal post there, doesn't mean it's really the beginning.
