Why does the universe exist at all?

[aneeshm]

Why do you assume that a reason must exist for the existence of the universe anyway ? Accept that there was no predetermined purpose to the coming into existence of the universe , and you will come closer to enlightenment . The assumption that everything must have a purpose ( in human terms ) in the mind of some conscious entity , and that a conscious entity is always the prime mover in everything , is the path to religion .

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by reds4ever


I know it's up against a lot of stiff oppostion but i stand by it.

Ah , so you stand by your opposition . That's a brave , but ideologically suicidal position .

[Odin]

Originally posted by BlackCat
Disagree a little - the universe is of limited size, though it is expanding. It's the nothingness surrounding it that are of unlimited size.

No, the Universe IS infinite. When cosmologists talk about the size of the universe, the vast majority are refering to the OBSERVERABLE universe, the part that we can see because light has been able to reach from there.

Originally posted by SnOOpy
There was no beginning

So you think the Big Bang never happened? I thought the steady staters have been extinct ever since the background microwave radiation was found.

[Bereta_Eder]

Isn't it agreed upon that the universe is expanding? That has got to mean that there is nothingness (what an oxymoron).

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Why? Well it's simple; since it is impossible for a 'nothingness' to exist, only the opposite can be true.

The existence of "nothing" is logical and is to be expected.
The existence of "something" is illogical and needs to be explained.

Isn't it agreed upon that the universe is expanding? That has got to mean that there is nothingness (what an oxymoron).

Not necessarily. Things may expand internally.

Consider the fraction 1/N. As you increase N from 1 to infinity, you will see an apparently increasing amount of numbers appearing between 0 and 1 (where all these numbers occur). However, the distance between 0 and 1 will not increase.

[Bill3000]

Actually, it's unkown whether the universe (by which I mean the spacetime fabric) is infinite or finite.

There's also M-Theory and other theories which can state that the universe isn't everything that there is.

[LDiCesare]

The existence of "nothing" is logical and is to be expected.
The existence of "something" is illogical and needs to be explained.

? How is that logical or not? Logic is inference based upon facts. "Nothing exists" is a postulate that is not more logical than its opposite,"something exists". Where do you see something illogical in the existance of something?

There's also M-Theory and other theories which can state that the universe isn't everything that there is.

Not really. If you define universe as "all that is", then these theories just apply to a subset of the universe, probably the part of the whole that we can see/reach/observe.

[Bill3000]

But the word "multiverse" is cooler.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by LDiCesare
? How is that logical or not? Logic is inference based upon facts. "Nothing exists" is a postulate that is not more logical than its opposite,"something exists". Where do you see something illogical in the existance of something?

Existence implies creation. The question of creation leads to the First Cause arguments that litter Apolyton theads.

In contrast, nothingness does not need a creation. It alway has been...d'oh, I mean, has not been.

[Bill3000]

Is the following statement true or false:

This statement is false.

[BlackCat]

Who says that logic has to make sense

[Alexander's Horse]

there is a point where we need to accept there are things beyond our human comprehension - the universe should inspire awe and wonder, we can hardly comprehend it

consider this, there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the seashore, some of the light you see when you look at the stars at night is only just reaching us from the beginning of time and is like a photograph of genesis.

How can you really understand these things?

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
there is a point where we need to accept there are things beyond our human comprehension - the universe should inspire awe and wonder, we can hardly comprehend it

consider this, there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the seashore, some of the light you see when you look at the stars at night is only just reaching us from the beginning of time and is like a photograph of genesis.

How can you really understand these things?

That is easy - you only have to have sufficient knowledge. Without you either makes wild guesses or start to fantasize and invent "greater beings" that has created it.

[Alexander's Horse]

you really are a fool, aren't you

[Odin]

Superstring/M-Theory: