Why does anything exist rather than nothing?

[psyence53]

But why is there anything? Why is there matter, anti-matter, energy, dark energy? ANYTHING?
It really is spectacularly pointless. But spectacular nevertheless.

[marnix]

i suppose the pointlessness of it all must be confusing to anyone who wants to find purpose to life, the universe and everything - on the other hand, for those who accept the possibility of a pointless universe there's much to be said for Douglas Adams' "anything that happens, happens"

i particularly like the idea of 2 extra-dimensional entities colliding, the energy of which spilt out as a flood of particles - that would make out universe the by-product of the greatest car crash known to man, a bit like the trail of spilt oil and glass of a real car crash

[psyence53]

That's an interesting idea. I like that. The imagary it conjures is magnificent. Anything's possible with the origin of the... sorry, OUR Universe. Not that it belongs to us. Anyway. I've long given up on a purpose of life, because there isn't one. Perhaps I wasn't clear, but my "Whys" are rhetorical. I don't believe there is an answer to any of them, and that is the fantastic thing. What's the big deal with any "meaning of life" anyway? The Universe isn't life. It's a concept from Earth, our concept from Earth, and we are obsessed with it, but really we are just a byproduct of the chemical balances and or imbalances of this big rock. I'm all for knowledge and learning and some philosophical matters, but in terms of meaning of life, forget it. Stop wasting time trying to be somebody or trying to fit in or trying to solve everything and enjoy the wonder out there. Eg. Space exploration - i'm all for probes being sent everywhere, and the wonderful imagery we get, but by no means do i want humans setting foot on Mars or anywhere else. We spoil everything. Sure it would be nice to preserve life (though not JUST humans) and even the thought of civilisations seeing Earth rise and set, but knowing humanity, it wouldn't be as simple as that. Not with politics and war and who knows what else. Everything has to be over-complicated, when really it could be so simple.

[Obviously]

Fun fact. 90% of the universe is built up by virtual particles going in and out of existence (according to some math I don't understand), so in a way, 90% of the universe doesn't really exist. I also read a random comment once by some random guy (I'm aware that makes this next comment useless and unreliable, but I think it's interesting nonetheless. I leave it to someone else to figure out whether it's true or not) who said that if and when the Higgs boson is found, most experts expect the number to rise from 90% to 100% (as mentioned, this is unverified by me).

So in a way, nothing really exist. Either that, or existence and nonexistence is intertwined in a relationship which can only be described by complicated math.

[marnix]

wow ! this post was worth the wait - welcome back !

so in essence, all (or virtually all) matter is constantly in the process of appearing or disappearing
does it say anywhere how long the residence time of existence / non-existence compares with that of the transition ?

+ does dark matter fit in this scheme too ?

[Obviously]

wow ! this post was worth the wait - welcome back !

I'm flattered, although I must admit that I might not be too active . Last year in school, etc. I need to find time for gaming, friends, homework (which I rarely do), test preparations, and so on and so forth. I'll try to be at least semi-active.

so in essence, all (or virtually all) matter is constantly in the process of appearing or disappearing
does it say anywhere how long the residence time of existence / non-existence compares with that of the transition ?

+ does dark matter fit in this scheme too ?

According to this, they manifest and annihilate in less than 10 to the 20th power seconds. Not sure how dark matter 'fit the scheme', although this random article seems to imply that dark matter is comprised by virtual particles.

[marnix]

According to this, they manifest and annihilate in less than 10 to the 20th power seconds.

i suppose that's meant to be 10^-20 seconds
i also see that the virtual particles seem to refer to vacuum energy, and not necessarily to "solid" matter as we know it ?

[Obviously]

According to this, they manifest and annihilate in less than 10 to the 20th power seconds.

i suppose that's meant to be 10^-20 seconds
i also see that the virtual particles seem to refer to vacuum energy, and not necessarily to "solid" matter as we know it ?

I need to remember that command...

Well, I don't really know that much about virtual particles, other than that they relate to quantum field theory (if I'm not mistaken). This quote from Wikipedia should clear up (or further confuse) as to what the nature of virtual particles are:

"Virtual particles exhibit some of the phenomena that real particles do, such as obedience to the conservation laws. If a single particle is detected, then the consequences of its existence are prolonged to such a degree that it cannot be virtual. Virtual particles are viewed as the quanta that describe fields of the basic force interactions, which cannot be described in terms of real particles. Examples of these are static force fields, such as a simple electric or magnetic field, or any field that exists without excitations that result in its carrying information from place to place."

~ Wikipedia

[marnix]

so that implies that there is real matter and virtual matter, the first (semi-)permanent, the other ephemeral
so the question of this thread then becomes : why is there real matter rather than just virtual matter
it almost seems like real matter is virtual matter that's lost its twin to annihilate with and become energy again

[Obviously]

so that implies that there is real matter and virtual matter, the first (semi-)permanent, the other ephemeral
so the question of this thread then becomes : why is there real matter rather than just virtual matter
it almost seems like real matter is virtual matter that's lost its twin to annihilate with and become energy again

Well, I suppose we're yet to find out if real matter exhibit some properties of virtual particles, assuming my wholly unreliable and unverified claim by some random dude on the Internet is true (that some experts expect the number 90% to reach 100% once the Higgs Boson is found).

[marnix]

one thing's for certain though : the large hadron collider isn't going help us find out any time soon

[Obviously]

one thing's for certain though : the large hadron collider isn't going help us find out any time soon

There is a God... and he's an real ass...

[marnix]

"i've created the universe and anyone trying to reverse engineer what i've been doing is in for a hard time"