Editing Omphalos hypothesis (section)

==Similar formulations==

===Five-minute hypothesis===
The '''five-minute hypothesis''' is a [[skeptical hypothesis]] put forth by the philosopher [[Bertrand Russell]], that proposes that the universe sprang into existence five minutes ago from nothing, with human [[memory]] and all other signs of history included. It is a commonly used example of how one may maintain extreme [[philosophical skepticism]] with regard to memory and trust in evidentially derived historical chronology.<ref name=russell5>{{Cite book | last1 = Russell | first1 = Bertrand | author-link1 = Bertrand Russell | title = Analysis of Mind | year = 1921 | publisher = G. Allen & Unwin | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2529 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/187498 | jstor=187498 | title=Are We Only Five Minutes Old? Acock on the Age of the Universe | last1=Smith | first1=Joseph Wayne | last2=Ward | first2=Sharyn | journal=Philosophy of Science | date=1984 | volume=51 | issue=3 | pages=511–513 | doi=10.1086/289198 }}</ref>

===Borges's ''Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius''===
[[Jorge Luis Borges]], in his 1940 work, ''[[Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius]]'', describes a fictional world in which some essentially follow as a religious belief a philosophy much like Russell's discussion on the [[logical extreme]] of Gosse's theory:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://interglacial.com/~sburke/pub/Borges_-_Tlon,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius.html#backto2|title=Borges – Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius|website=interglacial.com}}</ref>

{{blockquote|One of the schools of Tlön goes so far as to negate time: it reasons that the present is indefinite, that the future has no reality other than as a present hope, the past none other than present memory.}}

Borges had earlier written a short essay, "The Creation and P. H. Gosse"<ref name="borges-essay">
{{cite book
|last=Borges
|first=Jorge Luis
|author-link=Jorge Luis Borges
|others=translated by Ruth L. C. Simms
|title=Other Inquisitions, 1937–1952
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvycg3RMAW4C
|access-date=2008-02-27
|year=1964
|publisher=University of Texas Press
|isbn=978-0-292-71549-3
|pages=22–25
|chapter=The Creation and P.H. Gosse
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvycg3RMAW4C&pg=PA22}}
</ref> that explored the rejection of Gosse's ''Omphalos''. Borges argued that its unpopularity stemmed from Gosse's explicit (if inadvertent) outlining of what Borges characterized as absurdities in the Genesis story.

=== Last Thursdayism ===
The satirical "Last Thursday" version likely originated in the 1990s. In the early 21st century, a "[[Church (congregation)|church]]" of "Last Thursdayism" was established as a parody of religion and tenets of faith.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180804144307/http://www.last-thursday.org/ Church of Last Thursdayism], in [[Internet Archive]].</ref> The church sparked lively debates online.<ref>For example, see the [[social network]] [[Reddit]] [https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ig74q/eli5_last_thursdayism/?rdt=56475 here] and [https://www.reddit.com/r/lastthursdayism/?xpromo_edp=enabled here], in English.</ref>

Last Thursdayism presents the Omphalos hypothesis as a parody religion,. The "Church of Last Thursdayism" website attempted to equate belief in Last Thursdayism with an actual religion, listing "tenets of faith":

{{Blockquote|content=The universe was created on Thursday and will expire on Thursday.
The universe was created by you as a test for yourself.
You will receive reward or punishment based on your actions in this test.
[[Left-handedness]] is a sinful temptation.
Everyone except you was placed here and pre-programmed to act as part of your test environment.
Everyone except you knows this.
The purpose of this one-week test is to discover your moral boundaries and character.|source=Church of Last Thursdayism}}