Why didn't we end human life earlier?

Well, if the big bang theory is right, everything consists of mass and empty space. Atoms have space between each other, and so does the proton/neutron nucleus. Even the smallest particles we know of today (neutrinos) would likely be built up by even smaller particles. Now, imagine that all of the void was taken away, and left was only the mass. There we have it, all the mass today compressed into one small point that has collapsed by its own gravity and completely removed ALL space around it.

Personally, I don't beleive in the concepts "largest" and "smallest", as there is always someone or something bigger, so therefore, what existed before the Big Bang was infinitely small. I'm not sure what propelled everything away from such an insane gravitational force, but I think the universe DOES expand and collapse again every few, say, 100 billion years. The result is simply that evolution starts over and over, and we never manage to explore the universe to its extent, even in so much time.

But then again, after dying time after time in World 7 in the impossible game Super Mario Bros for NES, you learn that it's only a matter of time and patience until you get the skills to beat the system and rescue the princess.