Thank you for reading and commenting, Justin!

For the moment it does seem enough to explain the paradox. Inflation has so much evidence behind it and solves so many questions about the universe perfectly that it is pretty much accepted as fact even if it can’t officially be proclaimed as such.

A fascinating point about inflation is that we’re not sure if it ever really “began”. Perhaps the universe was constantly in a state of inflation before it ended and gave way to the normal expansion we have now. The moment when inflation stopped and expansion took over could be seen as the beginning of our universe. Inflation would then be the cause of the Big Bang, no singularity needed.