What is the beginning of the world?

No, and I think all those who offer "expert" advice are guessing well educated guesses maybe but none the less a guess.

The world begins for each of us at our first breath and ends with our last.

I would say . Show me the proof and I will acknowledge your opinion.

Buddhism is a fascinating religion.

I am not religious, though: I prefer a more scientific viewpoint.

Faith is analyzed in Buddhism into two types called Blind-faith and Reasoned-faith. What the Buddha appreciated was the Reasoned-faith.

Reasoned-faith means believing based on proper facts and reasons.

The Buddha advised to reject both Traditionalist teachers and Mere-logical thinkers.  The reason for the rejection is mentioned as thus:

"Traditionalist sometimes says truth but sometimes says false. Mere logical thinker also sometimes says truth but sometimes says false."

At another time the Buddha had said, the person who can't realize the reality of suffering (birth, aging, diseases and death) of the life, should seek for a teacher who has realized the truth using Super-natural wisdom. (Otherwise the person is considered a younger who trust his own ordinary mind.)

In another place the Buddha advices the truth seekers to test the Buddha before believing in. The Buddha advices the truth seekers to try hard to find out any bodily or verbal or mental fault in the Buddha to ensure that the Buddha doesn't have any weaknesses whatsoever.

For the people who are not confident in repeated-birth, the Buddha advices to take the "Assured path" by readying for bothpossibilities.

Assured path is mentioned as thus:

"If there was a repeated birth, and I had not done evil, then I would be born in a good place.

If there was NOT a repeated birth, and I had not done evil, then also I would not face any problems.

In both cases I would be safe, if I have not done any evil."

So the refraining from evil acts in this life is considered the Assured path.

The very first event wouldn't have an event before it.... but it certainly can have events that occur after it or because of it.

We already have an idea about the beginning, but will we ever know with 100% certainty? No, but there is a beginning nonetheless.

As for the chicken vs the egg question... What may have started as a speck of an organism grew and adapted over time... which eventually would become something that could lay eggs... which would then one day lay an egg similar to what we see today. So, it really depends on how one views it... as if whatever laid the egg was not quite a chicken yet, but close.. then it still may technically be considered the 'chicken' coming first... and the egg is just a more refined version of what would be or become the chicken. However, if what laid the egg was not a hen yet or even remotely close to looking like a chicken, but it laid an egg that had the first chicken in it, then it could be considered the egg first.

But eh... I may lean more toward the chicken first type... genetically, there was something similar enough, so I would consider it a version of the chicken even if we may have called it something else, but that may have been what chickens looked like back then.. who are we to really say what is what based on physical appearances... as long as the DNA is similar then it's a fit  It's not like the egg appeared out of thin air.

Indeed. My own opinion.

My poor friend believes Noah and The Ark is real. That scientists are wrong about how the dinosaurs became extinct. I feel too bad to inform her she's wrong. It's like saying the earth is flat. Oh dear. I take it lightly, though: if someone wants to believe something who am I to stop them?

This chicken and egg conversation can be tiring. No one has an answer for it anyway.

I remember as a child trying to picture just how much Mary Magdalen was crying to get enough for a bowlful.

When people say the 'beginning of the world,' they're really referring to when human civilization began. Even if they aren't aware.

There is already an answer for where human civilization began based on anthropological evidence, historical records, and so forth.

Human civilization started within the fertile crescent, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now modern day Iraq. It was here where Mesopotamia was founded. It's capital city was well known, even within biblical canon, as Babylon.

Tales told during such times include the Babylonian creation story and possibly the Christian creation story found in Genesis. Mesopotamia may have also been directly referenced as 'Eden' in various iterations of the Christian bible.

Human life prior to the founding of this nation was merely nomadic and tribalistic. Though the Indus Valley Civilization may also be a potential beginning for civilization, I do not have the frame of reference for the time period it existed.

I have stopped thinking about the chicken and egg situations long time ago.

LOL.

The only beginning that this question really applies to is what happened before the Big Bang.