I am going to play the role of devil's advocate, against my usual stance of anti-theism and atheism. I often dwell pensively on the metaphysical and existential questions; the hows, the whys. Upon every reflection and futile, but humble, attempt to shine light into the deepest of oblivions i always find myself coming insufferably snared by the same cajoling question: Why is there anything, and not nothing? This is no debate or speculation about how; regardless of whether the big bang was the true primordial genesis or if there were some even more audacious, unfathomable plane previous. The question remains. Presumably, in the arena of possibilities one would have to conclude that it is more favourable that nothingness should prevail; yet could this concept be merely a fabrication of the human obsession with gratifying a purpose and definition to what he/she can perceive? Nothingness isn't the manifestation of the mathematical premise of zero - so how does one even comprehend such a concept? but the fact remains there is something, and not nothing. A further inclination of mine leads me to believe that the answer may not be the penetrating, recondite revelation that we feel it deserves - perhaps slightly nihilistic - but maybe the question is merely a product of the philosophical notion: why? Because /or why not?. Furthemore, do we even deserve an answer? As a species we have an inflated ego, which produces an indulgent sense of entitlement - we demand to know everything; we feel we should be able to know everything (Many, behind the guise of religion already claim success in this field). But the universe remains indifferent to our existence and our requests of it - there is no will behind its mechanisms, its laws, its forces; so why should there be any will which we can perceive of its conception? Our definitions are propounded on 'wills' because this is what's intuitive to us, but something as callous as the external or the infinite cannot be defined by our logic in any meaningful way. Hélas pour moi
Our definitions, are just other people opinions. Perception is reality, your question is just your conscious mind looking for an answer when really what you believe is everything. Your looking to deep all we are is energy and emotions. We are everything and nothing.
This is a great post sir. I do believe everything we perceive is an illusion of our minds, and in reality the way earth is and the way the universe and galaxy work is different than what we think and believe. If we were to increase our consciousness and open our minds we would indeed perceive this world differently yet again. We dont do enough to grow as individuals and expand our minds to look for truth and answers, instead many of us follow a religion, or shoot down theories or possibilities immediately. Instead we should investigate EVERY theory, possibility and plausible idea with great effort in hopes of finding new information and ideals. We as humans shoot down the far fetched and different ideas immediately in fear of what could be true. We are the reason for our stupidity and downfall as a race.
Why is there energy and emotions, rather than not? They remain real in existence even if they're not palpable. There would be nothing to do any perceiving, if there was nothing at all.
I more of less have a similar conclusion; the idea that the "why" might be a problematic proposition to begin with. In the broadest sense, there is an implication of intentionality... and if we can assume there is none... the question isn't really useful. But that's not to say it's a bad question. It's a question that makes a lot of intuitive sense when you consider our existence as organic material entities who identify deeply with Platonic techne.
Yeah I feel as if we project our human desire for meaning and significance onto the existence of the universe. We are conscious beings who identify with conscious intent and will, and so when we're left with a 'just because' or 'cause-effect' type answer to the existence of the universe we almost feel as if that just can't be the core explanation, that there must be a 'meaningful' reason to the existence of reality.
Hi from Ireland! You guys don't get it! Far too much navel gazing and abstruse verbosity. I think a far more fruitful approach is to understand that we are an integral part of the universe; not some sundered scions of consciousness bereft and forever adrift in the void. Our sentience proves that the universe is conscious - matter regarding itself - thinking. We are not only intimately involved, we are the main event Step out of the existential shadows and realize that it has taken "the universe" 14 billion years to get you here. You are the cutting edge tool to interrogate your allotted time. Stop faffing around and Begin.
I think you may have answered your own question in the end of your original post. Like trying to put the square peg through a round hole, we try to rationalize and find a logical answer to everything. Often there isn't an answer or logical explanation for the universes complexing and humbling questions. Our brains, our ways of thinking, sense of logic and truth, are very "narrow" or close-minded for lack of a better term. Im sure your familiar with the term paradigm, and how our thoughts are influenced by and built upon layers of our paradigms. It would be impossible to ever break through our "lens"; our way of perceiving, taking in and processing what we think is reality. To truely see the universe and reality, and process that, is beyond the primitive capabilities of the human brain. From the inside looking out, through a dirty, scratched lens; we will never fully understand. Dwelling in the abstract doesn't accomplish much in our physical reality.
A bit of a narcissistic perspective to adopt don't you think? What of the cold attitude with which the universe regards us - We have been at the mercy of countless near extinctions. With a touch of humility we could perceive of beings far more intelligent and learned of the intricacies which define everything. Regardless, what better way to spend your time than to question. P.s out of curiosity, where in Ireland?
Why not? Is your answer. We live in a universe where inverses are possible. . .and probable. So if there is anything, then somewhere there is nothing. Therefore If there is anything, there is nothing. Logic tells us that the statement is false in a literal sense, which is why people have a problem with it. Sentential logic is a fun little realm to dabble in, and definitely helps one grasp the concept of not over thinking, and also a sturdy foundation of the most literal conveyances.
It's interesting to observe how many people have the definitive answer to this conundrum! Why is there nothing if there is anything? - sounds like waffle to me.
To HookedonPhonics, Nearest parish to USA - Co.Kerry. You make the usual mistake of anthropomorphizing the cold uncaring Universe. The Universe does not regard 'us' in any intelligible way. How could it? Rather, we as sentient beings regard the Universe and ponder why our sentience is met with utter silence. Hence the existential crisis. We imagine a dialogue that does not exist. The 'unknown' does not exist for us. It is a meaningless cypher to which we give a presence, a gravity, an artificial credence. Since we are beings that formulate our thoughts through language we simply assume that all our concepts have an existential weight - a degree of certitude that guarantees coherence. Not at All! We have a cerebral language parsed in common that is just as apt to accept rationality as absurdity. Beware the "bewitchment of language" to quote Wittgenstein. Hence my original post.
The other day I was thinking and it came to my mind that existence-non existence is a lot like untangled earphone cables-tangled earphone cables... What I mean by this is perhaps you do not know, but earphones get tangled because there's millions of ways for it to happen, but only one way for it not to get tangled. So reality happened just because it was probable.
what fucks with me is how the fuck can the universe expand into nothing it doesnt make any sense. like if the the universe has an edge, okay whats on the other side? could one stick their arm past the edge? if not, an infinite universe wouldnt make sense. where is the universe? fuckkkk
this isnt the most profound mystery, its actually quite simple. that kind of stuff I come across when Im stoned and the answer comes within seconds. the question for a reason of existance makes no sense, because it can not have a reason since if there was no existence, there would be no such thing as reason. btw. its not like there isnt nothing, the nothing is there alright. existence and non-existence coexist, we just dont percieve the non-existence.