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Why do we have something instead of nothing at all?

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tosca1

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Why is the universe here? Why is the earth here? Why are we here?

Why not nothing?


How do you answer that?
 
Why does it have to be "something," why is existing in the present such a disappointment?
 
Radical said:
Because cause and effect is important.
Click to expand...

For who or what? (Elaborate, if you are talking in human terms or system of belief terms.)
 
OrphanSlug said:
For who or what? (Elaborate, if you are talking in human terms or system of belief terms.)
Click to expand...

For human beings. Cause and effect is important to rational creatures. Rationality without an understanding of cause and effect is an oxymoron. And this rationality, specifically cause and effect, allows us to understand "something does not come from nothing". Thus, our rationality begets the knowledge of a Creator. Nothing has to do with faith or belief.
 
tosca1 said:
Why is the universe here? Why is the earth here? Why are we here?

Why not nothing?


How do you answer that?
Click to expand...

What is the purpose of Earth from a religious perspective? What is the purpose of humans?

The answer isn't that much different whether you are a Christian or an atheist.
 
Radical said:
Because cause and effect is important.
Click to expand...

Religion doesn't actually explain the purpose of our existence. It sets up various moral laws and focuses on the consequences of breaking those laws. In terms of actually presenting a clear explanation for the point of everything... religion is at least as lacking as any non-theistic explanation.
 
There probably isn't a "why", just a "how".

Maybe "nothing" is an impossible or unstable state.

We just don't know.
 
Radical said:
For human beings. Cause and effect is important to rational creatures. Rationality without an understanding of cause and effect is an oxymoron. And this rationality, specifically cause and effect, allows us to understand "something does not come from nothing". Thus, our rationality begets the knowledge of a Creator. Nothing has to do with faith or belief.
Click to expand...

Such common sense served us well during our evolutionary processed. It has proven to be very misleading, however, when it comes to complex science like relativity and quantum theory. I doubt it serves any use in determining how the universe came to be.
 




Straight from the mouth of one of the foremost experts on that very question in the entire world.
 
tosca1 said:
Why is the universe here? Why is the earth here? Why are we here?
Why not nothing?
How do you answer that?
Click to expand...
"I DON'T KNOW" (or "We don't know, Yet")

The same answer that would have been More Intelligent/proved more correct, than inventing Fire, Lightning, Fertility, and 20,000 other 'Gods' as explanations for what we didn't understand.. yet.

Really just another Itmustbegod/Goddidit fallacious innuendo String.
 
Last edited:
mbig said:
"I DON'T KNOW" (or "We don't know, Yet")

The same answer that would have been More Intelligent/turned out more correct, than inventing Fire, Lightning, Fertility, and 20,000 other 'Gods' as explanations for what we didn't understand.. yet.

Really just another Itmustbegod/Goddidit fallacious innuendo String.
Click to expand...

Quite right. We don't know therefore some god or other did it is not a logical position to adopt.
 
Actually, I made it all happen, along with the old-seeming backstory. It happened last week when I accidentally sneezed you all into existence. Prove I didn't!
 
It is because it is.
 
Amadeus said:
Religion doesn't actually explain the purpose of our existence. It sets up various moral laws and focuses on the consequences of breaking those laws. In terms of actually presenting a clear explanation for the point of everything... religion is at least as lacking as any non-theistic explanation.
Click to expand...

That wasn't the question asked. It didn't ask about the meaning of life. It asked about existence.

I think that the Christian could argue that there is no meaning in this life. Life is so chaotic and non-uptopian. Who can make sense of it? What would really be worthwhile? If I were to build a glorious, moral, scientific empire, I would die knowing that it would crumble into dust one day. There is no meaning in this life.
 
OrphanSlug said:
Why does it have to be "something," why is existing in the present such a disappointment?
Click to expand...


???

It isn't an expression of disappointment. It is a basic question of existence.
 
Amadeus said:
What is the purpose of Earth from a religious perspective? What is the purpose of humans?

The answer isn't that much different whether you are a Christian or an atheist.
Click to expand...

So, there's not much difference whether one is an atheist and or a Christian. I don't know the answer of the atheist, but your response is surprising.


What do you think is the answer of a Christian?
 
Paschendale said:




Straight from the mouth of one of the foremost experts on that very question in the entire world.
Click to expand...


I just finished his book, A Universe from Nothing, yesterday. It was very good. A couple parts were a bit over my head but otherwise he explains everything pretty well.
 
Paschendale said:




Straight from the mouth of one of the foremost experts on that very question in the entire world.
Click to expand...




Well....assuming he could be right, that still does not eliminate God, or the Creator!



Where, for starters, are the laws of quantum mechanics themselves supposed to have come from?
Krauss is more or less upfront, as it turns out, about not having a clue about that.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/a-universe-from-nothing-by-lawrence-m-krauss.html





“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” ― Werner Heisenberg


Werner Karl Heisenberg (German: [ˈhaɪzənbɛɐ̯g]; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the key pioneers of quantum mechanics.

Heisenberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1932 "for the creation of quantum mechanics".[1] He also made important contributions to the theories of the hydrodynamics of turbulent flows, the atomic nucleus, ferromagnetism, cosmic rays, and subatomic particles, and he was instrumental in planning the first West German nuclear reactor at Karlsruhe, together with a research reactor in Munich, in 1957.

Werner Heisenberg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
tosca1 said:
Well....assuming he could be right, that still does not eliminate God, or the Creator!
Click to expand...

You don't have to eliminate it. There's just no reason to conclude in favor of a creator god. No moreso than concluding that Santa Claus exists or Amon-Ra or Harry Potter. The universe functions perfectly without outside interference. There is just no need for a god to make it work. We have no need for that hypothesis.
 
Radical said:
For human beings. Cause and effect is important to rational creatures. Rationality without an understanding of cause and effect is an oxymoron. And this rationality, specifically cause and effect, allows us to understand "something does not come from nothing". Thus, our rationality begets the knowledge of a Creator. Nothing has to do with faith or belief.
Click to expand...

Rationally, you cannot support an eternal being if everything must have a cause. You're simply pushing the question back to what caused the creator, and if a creator can be eternal, why can't the universe?
 
tosca1 said:
So, there's not much difference whether one is an atheist and or a Christian. I don't know the answer of the atheist, but your response is surprising.
Click to expand...

In the end, no, there is not much difference in being an atheist or a Christian. You have a slightly different world view, I guess, if you believe in a higher power.

What do you think is the answer of a Christian?
Click to expand...

I would assume that the answer for a devout Christian would be to serve God. That is the ultimate purpose; the reason for why 'something' exists. However, that answer in itself doesn't really give an indication as to the bigger reason for existence.
 
spud_meister said:
Rationally, you cannot support an eternal being if everything must have a cause. You're simply pushing the question back to what caused the creator, and if a creator can be eternal, why can't the universe?
Click to expand...

Infinite regression is a bitch. I just wonder how far some people can actually regress and they keep regressing further than that!
 
Radical said:
That wasn't the question asked. It didn't ask about the meaning of life. It asked about existence.
Click to expand...

It's effectively the same question, just phrased differently.

I think that the Christian could argue that there is no meaning in this life. Life is so chaotic and non-uptopian. Who can make sense of it? What would really be worthwhile? If I were to build a glorious, moral, scientific empire, I would die knowing that it would crumble into dust one day. There is no meaning in this life.
Click to expand...

 
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