The myth of cosmic symmetry breaking

General considerations are presented concerning symmetry and reference frames. It is shown that the Universe as a whole cannot possess perfect symmetry and that there was no cosmic symmetry breaking at cosmic phase transitions between cosmological eras. Cosmological schemes that assume perfect symmetry for the Universe are meaningless, but that can be circumvented. Assuming discontinuous evolution, high-energy physics does not reconstruct earlier eras. Specifically, any symmetry emerging at high energies cannot be a feature of earlier eras and is not a restoration of symmetry (that never was). The quantum era is considered and can reasonably be assumed to have been nontemporal, nonspatial, and extremely quantal. The Beginning can reasonably be identified with the quantum era or with the cosmic transition to space-time.