The Mystery of Existence | Episode 913 | Closer To Truth

[@deepaktripathi4417]

How fortunate we are that we can watch these things on KZbin. This channel has become my favorite KZbin channel.

[@edwindelgado8775]

💯

[@anonxnor]

🤖🤖

[@D2theLEO]

I instantly fell in love with this show when I discovered it on PBS around 15 years ago. I never thought to see if it was on KZbin. The almighty algorithm finally saw fit to recommend me one of the videos recently, I was very happy to see the whole collection is available!

[@gregreilly326]

I'm glad Robert Kuhn exists.

[@sambowdin5608]

lol...I see what you did there.

[@richardvannoy1198]

To be haunted by fundamental questions is a beautiful thing.

[@scottnorvell2955]

I agree. The seeking may be the meaning.

[@natepolidoro4565]

Yes

[@anthonyparris8482]

Damn. Don’t know if I agree or disagree with this!

[@Jackson_Plop]

The trick is to be at peace, while living with uncertainty.

[@ghpeakfitness3813]

Unless it gives you panic attacks and terrible all consuming anxiety that makes you question existence and reality, then....I guess it's still beautiful, but it kind of sucks

[@NocturnalBeing777]

Got acquainted with this enigma at age 7 and it's been haunting me ever since. I think the day you die is the ultimate liberation.

[@pappupager4832]

May be after life jannat is another. Universe 🙏

[@stopPlannedObsolescence]

so life is a kind of prision ?

[@Jackson09]

My friend your completely correct. Complete silence & peace, almost like before we were born..There is no hell or heaven, but the law of conservation..we return our atoms,etc back to the place they came from the start....Stars made every single thing that your body is made of...This is a fact.

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

Not according to most Eastern mystics and traditions. Of course, you can think what you like but there are feww who would agree that it is either that simple or that easy. Indeed both Buddhism and Hinduism carry warnings about such an apporach.

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

@mike mars Firslty, what evidence do you have to support your claim? Secondly, what's speech got to do with anything?

[@manafro2714]

That plot twist at the end was something surprising rather than nothing at all. :)

[@NocturnalBeing777]

Subconsciously you have answered the question this documentary posses at the start.

[@theaviary238]

This series is pure 🔥. Keep them coming. I can't get enough.

[@b.g.5869]

These are great, but they're not new. A lot of people don't realize that. These are all excerpts from the old PBS series Closer To Truth, which started in 2000. I know they were still making it as recently as 2018 but it's not clear if they still are. Most of the ones being released on KZbin are 10 to 15 years old. Kuhn is much older looking now than he appears currently, and David Chalmers looks like a long dirty blonde haired young rock star whereas today he has short white/grey thinning hair.

[@evanjameson5437]

@@b.g.5869 yes but it doesn't diminish impact

[@arminpeter8103]

Our main problem with the concept "God" is that we think, speak, or write with the "God of the Bible" in the background of our minds, but GOD is SOMETHING what we do not know: We have not the slightest idea of what 'GOD' really is! We have pictures in our minds, we have concepts in our minds, we speculate, but we do not know anything about HE/SHE/IT/God/GOD.

[@dimitriospolymeros1497]

I had some sort of an epiphany when I was 5 years old, I remember it very vividly, when I asked myself this exact question, and it's been torturing me ever since. I 'm happy to find someone else who has realised that this is the most important question that anyone can ask. Great video.

[@dimitriospolymeros1497]

Btw, I like Heidegger and the fact that he- aside from an obscure ancient Greek philosopher(whose name I can't recall) - bothered to put so much effort to deal with this question- and, in the process, helped many people realise its' importance, which cannot be overstated. It's the absolute philosophical question. The moment you ask this, you propably suspect that you can never answer it, maybe because the answer is embedded in the question to begin with- nothing should exist. Existance is irrational... and yet, here we are. People who say ''it's irrelevant'' or ''you can't ask this'' only prove how threatened they feel, because in their gut they feel that the shallowness of their ideology would be exposed by this simple question.

[@ImranAli-lp4cg]

I have the answer

[@motorzeff]

@@ImranAli-lp4cg sure you do

[@Jackson_Plop]

The answer is probably way above our pay grade, our limited ability to understand it.

[@nono9555]

Its actually the most irrelevant, yet most interesting question

[@Okla_Soft]

Love Kuhns videos because he has a childlike curiosity to understand the deepest questions in physics and philosophy, in other words: the deepest questions that humanity can pose...

[@esmerillia]

Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous to assume that this subject matter would be the deepest questions humanity can ask?

[@mrmetaphysics9457]

@@esmerillia I do not see it as a big question in philosophy because I simply believe that you cannot get something out of nothing,if you are someone that except the idea that zero is a true number then you have more of a scientific mind than a philosophical one,they are a lot of things in science that seems to only make since in theory but the role of philosophy is to defend common sense, the real is what is rational!

[@garychartrand7378]

@@esmerillia No

[@esmerillia]

@@mrmetaphysics9457 you misunderstood what I said

[@phillynott2459]

@@esmerillia no because this question IS objectively the most fundamental question, regardless of what you think 🙂🙂🙂

[@Penrose707]

Robert, this is quite cleary the highest yield content I've ever observed on this platform. Bravo

[@nertoni]

I really enjoy your great documentaries that try to tackle mind bending problems. I have a feeling that the answer of the question of why is there "something" rather than "nothing" lies in the deeper understanding of the concept of infinity!

[@Greentunic84]

I cant get enough of this series. It's the best.

[@nicktraynor29]

“Because something does exist, there must be something that is self-existing; in that its essence is its existence.” That is a strikingly profound statement.

[@jjharvathh]

Just someone's guess, no way to prove it.

[@godq3]

"Because something does exist ..." The only thing you know exists, is your consciousness. At least it's like this in my case.

[@danielulisesalberdi7319]

That was the definition of God of the medieval theologians (both Muslims and Catholics )

[@suatustel746]

Before God can exist the concept of existence has to exist first, the phrase God create existence is a logical contradiction_you can create a thing that needs to there in the first place for you to be and do anything all

[@danielulisesalberdi7319]

@@suatustel746 The man in the interview is not saying that "God created existence". He is saying that God is existence itself.

[@saiedkoosha7188]

Among all, Michio was the only one who didn’t answer the question at all, as if he didn’t hear it. He said things that are interesting but totally irrelevant to the question. Intellectual honesty calls for a simple “I don’t know” in situations like this. Robert ends the episode brilliantly by confessing he hasn’t moved an inch closer to truth on this question. And who has?

[@Jamie-Russell-CME]

Me. But maybe because I am inferior.

[@jaydunstan1618]

Yes. He has a habit of doing that. Look at some of the older videos with other interviewees...some of the answers are utterly irrelevant.

[@MarkLucasProductions]

Michio's success turned him into an intellectual 'showman'. I like him but I don't like how he presents.

[@AltonMoore]

Kaku is a pseudo-scientist. I never watch him or Neil deGrasse Tyson. It would be charitable to call them "science popularizers".

[@MarkLucasProductions]

@@AltonMoore I mentioned Tyson as on a similar par with Kaku in my comment but then edited him out for brevity and also because I like him even more than Kaku. But you're right.

[@MichaelKorolov]

This question has a special meaning. Its own sense and feeling. There's no use to speculate about it in terms of preset life notions, you loose the question - it cannot be truly expressed in other words, decomposed to other concepts. The best thing I could do to not lose it - stop reasoning around it, keep the feeling, follow it as it is and see where it arise, see what you mean and feel by asking it. Feeling goes first, only then you can communicate it to your companion if he feels it too.

[@MichaelKorolov]

@Love Logic You know, without feeling identities, rational mind could not operate because it would not have notions and categories to manipulate in the first place. And if it defined something artificial, then manipulation results would not have meaning or sense. Sure we need rational during life on this plane. But I think questions 'what is sense of life' or 'why anything exists' go beyond categories of our normal life. And so we fail to answer them. We just cannot match the feeling which initiated this question with any combo of normal categories that we experienced here. And whatever rational explanation we create, it cannot answer to that feeling, leaving us unsatisfied with any explanation.

[@thecurbdog123]

I recently discovered your channel, and subscribed after first couple videos. Excellent format you have here. I love it I mean how you simply sit in front of an expert and try to get to the questions and we all get educated, or left mystified

[@bazstrutt8247]

Yeah the trouble is... This channel has been going for years... And poor old Lawrence is no closer to truth... He never settles on a position... I’m wondering how much longer he will continue

[@thecurbdog123]

@@bazstrutt8247 its not about finding the truth. It's about seeking it

[@bazstrutt8247]

Food Stamp Champ Seeking it forever?? A pointless, endless search for something that doesn’t exist??

[@manafro2714]

@@bazstrutt8247 Would you prefer that he settles on a lie? Maybe he'll never find the Truth, but he can for sure eliminate many ideas that are not the Truth. By doing that, he will be closer to Truth (I think this was his idea behind the title as well). Maybe you're right: perhaps the hopeful idea that there are a finite amount of non-Truths and therefore within a reasonable time, one could go one-by-one through all of them and by elimination finally arrive at the Truth is ALSO an incorrect idea, because there are either (1) an infinite amount of non-Truths or (2) there are a finite number of them, but they are so many that one could never eliminate all in a reasonable amount of time. Then you have 2 choices: settle for a lie, or accept that your journey may never end. But which lie to settle for and why even settle for one? That would launch you on another journey perhaps, or you might just get tired and settle for your latest lie. Many people settle for lies because they honestly mistake them for the Truth or they just don't care. But what do you have to lose when seeking the Truth? The journey fills your soul with beauty, and keeps your mind sharp, so that it can function better when you are existentially threatened. It's better to continue seeking the Truth because you have nothing to gain from the alternative.

[@bazstrutt8247]

Man Afro But he’s not eliminating the false conclusions... He can’t decide and just keeps going round and round in circles

[@theotormon]

The question I always come back to is the peculiarity of being human. I assume that all things have being: rocks, televisions, and rabbits. And yet my experience of being is anchored to the one type of thing in the universe we know to be rational, capable of will and moral choice, and able to appreciate the awesomeness of reality. The odds and privilege of this seem beyond unfathomable.

[@TheGuitarReb]

True.

[@garychartrand7378]

Beingness is EVERYTHING!

[@louiscyfer6944]

theotormon, that just means you are very bad at reasoning.

[@theotormon]

@@louiscyfer6944 Cool man, good for you.

[@tonybklyn5009]

A very good entry in the series.

[@johnbrzykcy3076]

But I hope when the curtain rises, the door does not say: "Exit here the series."

[@Palestinians4lifeisraelikilla]

@@johnbrzykcy3076 llllnllllllllnllllllllnllllllll we

[@91722854]

yes, if people jumping off bridges onto a fast moving train for a ride is to you a normal means of travelling by train

[@richardvannoy1198]

I like the answer that there is “something” that is self existing. And that self existing “thing” was the ignition to start everything else.

[@Mathfinance.]

That thesis is yet at the frontier of observation.

[@interneturomagazin]

Once something exists, nothing is impossible. It is basic mathematics. Perception or questioning that existence is irrelevant, as they are only variables in the equation of that existence. Once something exist it will continue to exist just the form can be different just as the variables in an equation can be changed even if the result will always be the same. So if we exist, the only question that we should ask ourself: is what we was before? (so we can learn from it, even if that is something we can't change) and what we wanna be in the future? (we should focus on this question as is the only one we can do something about it) ... not why we are at all.

[@williamsparks1036]

The ever existing one, the great I AM.

[@NaturalFuture]

I agree, Richard. It's like an always-on circuit which controls when everything else within the electrical and mechanical components of a device is on or offline. Can something truly be self-existing? Yes, if its existence is logically necessary for reality to function correctly. This makes it something necessary to always exist, never nonexistent, never needing to be brought into existence in order for it to exist, and therefore something logically natural to exist. Speaking of logic, some philospohers have come to accept that, absent of everything nonexistent which can exist prior to the existence of those things, possibility---and the logic which underlies it---must exist a priori. So, ultimately, all---including consciousness (including particles, forces, force carriers, and fields---and possibly a "Creator")---can exist only in subservient harmony with a bedrock extradimensional field of Logic.

[@ronaldhonore1452]

@@williamsparks1036 nope that's not the ever existing.

[@ili626]

This episode has the best introduction of them all so far “...I’m not deluded, just obsessed” ha!

[@NaifAlsayegh6628]

Music is often overlooked in these discussions. To me music hold more grounded truths than math and logic. Because it does not pass through any filter before it touches us .. even regardless of what stage of evolution we would be. The fact that our consciousness identifies scales and wrong notes, which is some form of a transcendental “order”, makes me think of our consciousness as something intentional, i.e. designed to identify this “order” and appreciate it..

[@sy8607]

My life journey has been a puzzling one. I learned this language not that long ago and fell in love with it and it has allowed me to enjoy shows like this one, I cannot get enough of this show

[@alhig3301]

Hello Sy, I have a very similar feeling of happiness and joy of knowledge thanks to English language. My mother language is Spanish, what is yours?

[@Mr69elco]

We need to break free from our human umwelt to figure something like this out.

[@MattSeconds]

I've done it. Many times. Donald Hoffman is on the right track, but certain variables aren't clear to him yet... I don't yet know if I should assist him with the progression. I'm so very conflicted..

[@johnsmith7140]

@@MattSeconds i think you should

[@sebastiancandor8680]

Why?

[@WhateverIOI]

Top Shelf 10's sure bud. Sure

[@1thomson]

When he says that he's going to Berkeley to see Hubert Dreyfus, he shows himself walking across the Stanford campus. No wonder he has questions. Like, "Where the fuck _am_ I?"

[@Monavah]

Hahahahahahahahahaah That cracked me right up

[@howtobeatadrum]

It is possible to start at Stanford and still arrive at Berkeley

[@1thomson]

@@howtobeatadrum Yes, but no one at Stanford would admit that.

[@howtobeatadrum]

@@1thomson haha

[@frankdimeglio8216]

@@howtobeatadrum Stanford University is knowingly and deceitfully lying about physics. THE ABSOLUTE, BALANCED, EXTENSIVE, AND CLEAR MATHEMATICAL PROOF REGARDING E=MC2 AS F=MA: Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy, AS E=MC2 IS F=MA. The Earth (A PLANET) is a MIDDLE DISTANCE form that is in BALANCED relation to the Sun AND the speed of light (c), AS the stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky; AS E=mc2 IS F=ma !!! This NECESSARILY represents, INVOLVES, AND DESCRIBES what is possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. Very importantly, A PHOTON may be placed at the center of WHAT IS THE SUN (as A POINT, of course); AS the reduction of SPACE is offset by (or BALANCED with) the speed of light (c); AS E=mc2 is F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. The stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky. The sky is blue, AND the Earth is ALSO BLUE. (OVERLAY what is THE EYE in BALANCED RELATION to/WITH what is THE EARTH.) E=MC2 IS F=ma !!! TIME DILATION ULTIMATELY proves (ON BALANCE) that ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity, AS E=mc2 is F=ma. INDEED, TIME is NECESSARILY possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE; AS E=mc2 is F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. The stars AND PLANETS are POINTS in the night sky. SO, THE EARTH is E=mc2 AS F=ma IN BALANCE. Objects fall at the SAME RATE (neglecting air resistance, of course), AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. It ALL CLEARLY makes perfect sense. BALANCE and completeness go hand in hand. So, get a very good LOOK at what is THE EYE. (Very importantly, outer "space" involves full inertia; AND it is fully invisible AND black.) "Mass"/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. E=MC2 IS F=ma. Gravity AND ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy are linked AND BALANCED opposites, AS E=MC2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity !!! Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. BALANCE and completeness go hand in hand. Consider what is the speed of light (c) as well. Carefully consider the man who IS standing on what is THE EARTH/ground. Touch AND feeling BLEND, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy IS gravity. Energy has/involves GRAVITY, AND ENERGY has/involves inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE. The ultimate mathematical unification of physics/physical experience combines, BALANCES, AND INCLUDES opposites, AS E=MC2 IS F=ma (ON BALANCE !!!); AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity !!! "Mass"/ENERGY involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE consistent with/as what is BALANCED electromagnetic/gravitational force/ENERGY, AS E=MC2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravitational force/ENERGY IS proportional to (or BALANCED with/as) inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS E=MC2 IS F=ma; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS E=mc2 is F=ma IN BALANCE; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY !!! Therefore, objects (AND the falling men) fall at the SAME RATE (neglecting air resistance, of course); AND the rotation of WHAT IS THE MOON matches it's revolution. MOREOVER, a given PLANET (INCLUDING WHAT IS THE EARTH) sweeps out EQUAL AREAS in equal times consistent WITH/AS F=ma, E=mc2, AND what is perpetual motion; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy is gravity; AS E=MC2 IS F=ma IN BALANCE !!!! Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy, AS E=MC2 IS F=ma. This NECESSARILY represents, INVOLVES, AND DESCRIBES what is possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE !!! Great. By Frank DiMeglio

[@mckeestudio1101]

Please pardon my gushing, but this has got to be the best introduction to an episode ever. The poignant narrative and epic soundtrack are perfect. Thanks for this series.

[@realskepticalstoic9704]

My biggest question is why are humans so cruel to one another when everything shows that the contrary is beneficial to all?

[@floydian1987]

💙 rightt , 😒

[@shirk_slayer]

Exactly.

[@xx_xxxxx_xx4800]

"that's clever, i think. but sorry, John. *That's also ABSURD* " lmao

[@philjamieson5572]

I think that people like this, asking questions like that, are always worth listening to. Thanks for putting this on here.

[@RJAamir]

I like your channel because you ask almost all the same questions that I have forever asked in my head. And till date I haven't found one answer that could somewhat quench my thirst for knowing and understanding the concepts.

[@FrenchAttic]

Thank you for sharing your quest with us Dr Kuhn. At 5 years old I had a meltdown because I couldn’t find anyone who could answer my distressing question :’what does nothing look like and what is outside the universe’. Until Now had no idea it was not a stupid question that nobody obsessed about. The question remains of course, but at least it’s a little less lonely to know others are disturbed by the same conundrum. The proposals in this video do not scratch the itch I suggest, or perhaps I am not smart enough for them to help scratch mine…🙏

[@cjfetz4629]

I remember Max Planck's saying about the thoughts of Heidegger. We cannot solve the greatest mysteries of existence, because we ourselves; are part of that mystery 🧠🤎

[@canopus4]

Thanks for this video. Kuhn is always best.

[@jeantetreault132]

Sir Robert Laurence Kuhn is not only intriguing, eloquent and mysterious, but he’s also very fascinating and mystical too. I just simply like his modern and contemporary style. He knows exactly how to define things and he knows exactly how to ask the right kind of questions, during his one on one interviews, with each and every one of his guests. Thank you for this magnificent presentation! Johnny, Montréal, Canada!

[@wmpx34]

Agreed. He’s talking to the preeminent thinkers of our time, but he brings an energy and curiosity to the interviews that really seems to bring out the best in all of them.

[@_shubham_kumar]

I appreciate that there is a show where people can just sit and ponder about the nature of nothing/existence even though it will never ever lead to any conclusive conclusion.

[@linusn6227]

I run a number of companies based in Hong Kong and one of my great pleasures is accompanying Mr. Kuhn on his journey. The gift of knowledge and a better understanding of ourselves and the nature of our existence. I and many others are in his debt.

[@bernardliu8526]

This learned man has had conversations on fundamental questions with a plethora of other learned persons. Regrettably, not a single one of those questions has been satisfactorily answered.

[@trelkel3805]

Love these discussions, so many intelligent people running around

[@ingenuity168]

With the financial resources to run around too. 🙏🙏🙏🧡

[@happierabroad]

These are stupid academics. I know a ton of people, including myself, smarter than these guys. They are nobodys. He doesnt interview the best intellectuals. Kuhn is also a closet atheist in disguise. Not a genuine truth seeker.

[@laughy38247357075834]

@@happierabroad troll

[@manaoharsam4211]

Incredible comments by Dr Michio Kaku. Thankyou both of you for making such a nice video.

[@garybala000]

Thank you for another powerful installment in your mind-challenging video series. Well done with insightful interviews of deep thinkers. As for the question “Why something rather than nothing” or the mystery of existence, here’s my quick take. I have never been heavily troubled by this query. To ask “why something rather than nothing” presupposes that 1. the “default” and natural state of existence is that of simple nothingness (an unjustified assumption in my view); and 2. Simple nothingness is just simple and NOT what I call a “Perfect Absolute Eternal Nothingness.” Perfect Absolute Eternal Nothingness for me is a PURE BLANK of space, matter, energy and time with NO possibilities or potentials for anything to ever come out of it and NO values, mathematics, numbers or any abstraction within it. There is NO option for anything other than Perfect Absolute Eternal Nothingness to ever exist - and it exists forever. Since what obtains in our Reality is plainly NOT this perfect nothingness, there must always have been a primordial Something - which then produced something else, which then produced still something else, ad infinitum. Thus, the solution is simply a definitional one - how one defines “nothingness.” Thanks again for your video.

[@Enki-the-Great]

Agreed. I can't see how it could be any other way. Not only is it counter intuitive but it seems to be completely illogical. True absolute nothingness in no way shape or form could ever give rise to something. That's why the nothingness as described by quantum mechanics is full of stuff lol. There is a fundamental something that is necessary. That which has always existed and always will. That which is the 1st cause of all effects.

[@grattata4364]

Great comment! But as i see it, nothingness doesn't exists as you state it, it just isn't. I don't think that the assumption of nothingness is unjustified either. Not in a sense of matter, but rather consciousness. If there is no life after death for example, i would just be that after i die, nothing at all. I think of it in a similar way to that there can be different types and sizes of infinity, then it could also maybe be different types of nothing. My nothing after i die would be smaller than the potential great nothing of a universe that never came to be, but it's still an justifiable example of nothing. Hope it makes any sense, lol.

[@garybala000]

Grattata Great response! But we can take what you call “nothing”, namely whatever definition you choose for it, and engage in a deep mental exercise; namely a process of elimination. We can keep of taking away from it more and more aspects of reality. At the end, the argument is that we are left with a Perfect Absolute Nothing - which is then an option for how Reality could be. In fact, RLK has done this very analysis 7 years ago at a lecture for a Chopra Foundation seminar. It’s a fascinating talk. Since such a “nothing” does not exist (since you and me and the world are obviously here), a primordial Something must obtain. Make sense? Lol Cheers! kzbin.info/www/bejne/enXVY35vbqutd9k

[@bangostate]

@@grattata4364 I know this comment is a year old but I just wanted to say that your comment was exactly the same intuition that came to my mind and you helped crystallize my thoughts so thank you! I also don’t believe in nothing in the sense of space/time/matter nothing but certainly nothing as a concept is something (hehe). What did I experience before I was born? What will I experience after I die? What does a man with no eyes see? Maybe these are incoherent questions but their “nothingness” seems much more real than the absolute universal nothingness

[@KEvronista]

nothing cannot exist. only something can exist. KEvron

[@GroovismOrg]

As a Groovist; as we all are, I believe the reason we're here, as One of billions, is to create a global Groove! As One, we all are to love what we're doing (creating music), feeling the power of the virtual mob, are happy, and happily practicing the third & activating step of evolution! Our purpose is to Be enjoying creating, ... music!!!

[@TheRealBozz]

It's all anthropomorphic semantics. But what else is there? We are the only conscious Observers that we know of. Why that is the case in a 14 billion year old universe should be the really scary question.

[@lionrocklr9217]

The only intuition I've had that allows me to think I'm making progress in answering Why Something..... is in thinking about the number one (1). Great series!

[@Bill-uo6cm]

The harder we look, the more apparent it becomes that nothing makes sense.

[@Bill-uo6cm]

@Chris Wise Cogito ergo sum.

[@marccas10]

"Nothing makes sense."

[@lobintool]

@@marccas10: Indeed, the more we know, the more we realize what we don't know...so how is knowledge power?

[@marccas10]

If you project that forward maybe an advanced civilisation or A.I. would go insane as the horizon of knowledge exponentially expanded before them?

[@fraser_mr2009]

that doesn't make sense, though. if the universe can come from nothing, then why would it need a real beginning point? it has an infinite age then. what i am saying is that the universe can push that nothing wall back forever. it doesn't have to ever not exist no matter how far you travel back in a ship we can calculate the age of our universe but not the totality of existence.

[@MeRetroGamer]

The ending is brilliant Man, this is the deepest question. The unreachable mystery of existence. Something that, the most you get closer to it, the further it grows the abyss between you and it. I'm pretty sure that this couldn't be answered even by the "self existing substance", since it would just create stuff in its try, if the mere assumption of this specific trying has any kind of sense (which I think it doesn't).

[@prashanthts6453]

I guess this series also needs to consider eastern philosophies which has tried to explore this question better than the western philosophers

[@PDZ1122]

Oh, really? And what's their conclusion?

[@scottnorvell2955]

I agree. Eastern philosophy has explored this stuff for thousands of years without the dogma of western religion doctrines.

[@egodust11]

The most fundamental question is also the most absurd. Existence and its inevitable counterpart, Non-existence, together comprise an inscrutable mystery. If there were tangible answers to these philosophical riddles, there would be no wonder, no beauty, no art, and ergo, no reason left to live.

[@alwalw9237]

Thank you so much for raising and discussing these questions. This mystery is so fundamental to our existence. I found this online one day when I was once again wondering what on earth the purpose was for being here. "There is a greater purpose for you in the world, a greater purpose that has brought you into the world, a greater purpose that is meant to serve the world that you see and the world to come. The reality of this purpose-its meaning and its expression-exists beyond the grasp of your intellect. It is something that resides deep within you. God has placed it deep within you, within a deeper Intelligence within you, an Intelligence that is called Knowledge. Your attempt to understand this purpose with your intellect will always fall short of the mark, for the intellect was not designed to comprehend things of this magnitude. Trying to understand the deeper Mind of Knowledge is like trying to understand the Mind of God. It is better not to try." From the Revelation "Your purpose and destiny" by Marshall Vian Summers

[@johnchapman5125]

Thank you, ALW.

[@julieann1975]

Ty!

[@ChristoMac]

This is something I've been unable to shake, I've had this inner knowing that time is so short and I'll be an old man or gone in what feels like a few seconds but will be a lifetime, it's a constant dread. And what makes it even worse is not having answers and most likely never knowing the what, where, and how we're here.

[@redmed10]

That's the ultimate contradiction of human existence. We are able to ask these questions but also be aware that there's a possibility we'll never know the answers or even if they are knowable at all.

[@lucifer.Morningstar369]

Try dmt, it'll convince you, you are eternal. Your human identity isn't you

[@lucifer.Morningstar369]

We are multidimensional beings and can travel in and out space and time upon birth or death. Through cosmic gland aka third eye

[@johntexas8417]

The one thing I LOVE about life is....... My existence. The wonder of it all. 🤠🙋‍♂️🇺🇲

[@Enki-the-Great]

Not saying I believe this but...Maybe that's one of the reasons why we are here. To give God or the universe the experience of wonder. Anything all knowing would lose wonder.

[@hash9863]

Yes he or she just want to wonder us that what he wants the ability of to creat or vanish some thing are not in our hands thts leads us to belive him GOD IS GREAT

[@hash9863]

Steve jobs while dying his last words WOW so wow is our answers and quistion and perpose nothing more...

[@floydian1987]

💙👍 agree man same here lol

[@RiemannHypothesis2]

What about DEATH?

[@Roscoe0494]

I acknowledge the others that have asked the same question at a young age. I did so at about ten. I attempted to imagine nothingness. The absence of space, time, anything. It was like trying to imagine five dimensions but more emotional(my existence was at stake). The result for me was a concept that was mind-blowing. Nothingness was incomprehensible, claustrophobic, empty, tiny, confined all at once. I could liken it to a singularity without the big bang. But I would agree with Robert that to get to something there would have to be an existence outside that confined room of nothingness. Meaning we can't answer that question with quantum fluctuations in a vacuum because we haven't started with nothing. We can't answer it with a big bang because the stuff came from somewhere. So this is how we get to God as a legitimate answer.

[@moses777exodus]

19:35 Possibilities and the Laws of Probability are not nothing. They, too, are product of Mind / Consciousness / Intelligence..

[@hrdowns9464]

Great work.👌🏽👏🏼👏🏽👍🏽

[@browngreen933]

For existence to arise from truly "nothing" is clearly impossible. Therefore, existence must be eternal. Eternal existence explains why something exists instead of nothing. Existence is -- because it always was!

[@RockyHoarderPictureShows]

What if it did arise from truly nothing? Then I guess nothing would be impossible.

[@fumikobirks8195]

The mistake in this type of a priori reasoning is the assumption that nothing and existence are related, that existence must be the product of nothing (which the a priorists consider to be impossible). Why is it not possible for existence to be self-generating? When existence emerges it leaves no space for nothing because there was nothing to obstruct its emergence.

[@gitaarmanad3048]

''Nothing'' is absolute. There's no time or space for anything to exist, neighter for a Big Bang to occur, The fact that we are here means there must always have been something.

[@amanumin7201]

Life is a test

[@shashikamanoj1160]

"Nothing is what stones dream of "

[@glynemartin]

...and what they know...

[@behrad9712]

👌

[@adamantium4797]

And yet stones are something

[@shashikamanoj1160]

@@adamantium4797 So what?

[@hogg4229]

Things have to be in more than one place at the same time. That is the most mind blowing idea. It is so counterintuitive.

[@RogerBays]

Reason 6 logic: If there is something there cannot be nothing. There is something, so there cannot be nothing.

[@Enki-the-Great]

I really believe it is that simple. Nothing can't exist. We know there is something therefore there has always been something.

[@Enki-the-Great]

Imo the hardest questions about reality won't be answered completely by science alone.. I think at least some measure of philosophy will need to be invoked.

[@ferdinandkraft857]

What if nothing comes after everything?

[@RogerBays]

@@ferdinandkraft857 We currently 'assume with no evidence' that something has infinite life. If true where would it go? If false then that could be a possibility.

[@Enki-the-Great]

Imo unless their is a God... this universe will end... and be again... and has been before. Why wouldn't it have? We know it is possible for it to exist ..

[@wayneasiam65]

Absolutely love Robert Kuhn's channel Closer To Truth. I've admired and listened to Michio Kaku so many times over the years. Perhaps the Genesis to it all is Time. One vibrating strand of possibility only exists because of it. Time can only exist if it's expanding forward, creating matter to push itself against , whic ultimately sets a sustainable Speed for Light , and quantum parameters. Matter didn't create Space. Space didn't create Matter or Time. Time created it all.

[@cipher0006]

Consciousness and existence are one in the same.

[@wynlewis5357]

Who told you that ?😀

[@greenleafycabbage8715]

Why is there anything at all? This question never stops haunting me. Since I was a child, ive been thinking about this. Its really creepy

[@marcosgalvao3182]

Equations are made inside consciousness so they just came from consciouses , the entity that make question is the answer for that questions . Consciousness is the ultimate reality .

[@RiemannHypothesis2]

I can see where your coming from, but try staring at a Digital Clock and think "STOP" inside your head. It won't stop. So from that we conclude that material existence != Mind/Perception. You can't find my password or hack my account using your Mind either.

[@thatipad2kid]

@@RiemannHypothesis2 mind -> body -> action Yes a mind can hack your account, through a body

[@lucifer.Morningstar369]

@@RiemannHypothesis2 he didn't say we as humans have special powers. The fundamental conciousness is nothing like our human form

[@purushothampurushotham6443]

This channel is superb. sir khun definitely great to see how you pull out the questions humanity is evolved into with science and religious with great peoples contributing with you collectively to bring us the information of deepest quest of the rails of the human life closer to truth . Greetings from India

[@surajgupta-me7zl]

He's more curious than anything

[@harleymccaffery5433]

That’s why he’s... closer, to truth.

[@SuperBeetox]

We gotta be curious at least especially on things that are still unclear..

[@ayoubzahiri1918]

If you're not it means you're too immersed in the illusion wich means you are vibrating LOW

[@maryweprin]

This is fabulous. Watching this again after nearly a year I am in awe of this question and the questioners. The world of course continues as a great mystery and wonder. Barry Weprin

[@482jpsquared]

9:58 "It's hard to give any substance to the notion of there being nothing." Within the vernacular it is difficult to express "nothing" even by an expert.

[@mysticwine]

A non existence cannot be identified as 'nothing'. Just thinking of non existence gives it life.

[@ilikenicethings]

I remember as a kid thinking about matter and objects and wondered about the space between things. I thought that the in-between space was what nothing was. I think modern science has an explanation for that now (something to do with entangled virtual particles). But the nothing that this show is referring to is the concept of the absence of existence. It may just be that nothing CANNOT “exist”. It is inconsistent for nothing to be all that there is. Especially from the perspective of a conscious being’s awareness.

[@russellbarndt6579]

Thank you for just being and asking the question good sir...!

[@behrad9712]

Beautiful!

[@charlestredway8253]

Outstanding realization and perspective!

[@moses777exodus]

8:00 "The laws of Physics are not Nothing." ... Precisely.

[@alexh1524]

I am reminded of an encounter between Moses and God in the Old Testament. God was speaking to Moses and at one point Moses asked for God's name. Moses was supposed to deliver a message to his fellow Hebrews suffering in Egypt and Moses concluded that they would demand to know who sent him - they would want to know the name of the god that sent him. The gods of the different peoples had names like 'owner,' 'majestic king,' 'star,' 'grain,' and 'destroyer.' God responded somewhat cryptically. He said, "I AM WHO I AM (Yahweh)….tell them I AM has sent me to you.' Yahweh has also been translated to, "He brings into existence whatever exists." Yahweh - a name that references self-existence.

[@glynemartin]

When you go deeper and deeper into matter you go on the reverse trip to nothing. Something seems to be the perfect illusion of nothing.

[@victoriaTWF]

This channel is so amazing ❤️

[@stopPlannedObsolescence]

yeah

[@brydonjesse]

I love how michio just destroyed parallel universes by perfectly stating this is probably the only way a uni erse could exist

[@MM-we4no]

You do realize he basically said nothing at all?! Because it can only exist that way - according to his limited view of the universe The fact that no one knows how the universe works in the first place is the clear proof that we literally cannot disprove the existence of God, alternate universes and other unknown phenomena

[@fraser_mr2009]

well his argument doesn't make any sense then because this one got here, and so why not 2 & more you can still have other dimensions though. say it's the same, well looks the same, but humans never evolved. or maybe there wasn't a world war two. maybe a different batch of humans, etc. imagine a dimension where the dinosaurs are wiped out but this does not lead to the human race. so many alterations... how is choice handled. in that case does there need to be other dimensions

[@brydonjesse]

There could very well be multiple universes out there but they would be so far removed and detached from this reality and space that it would not matter. The biggest point is this is it along side the other dimensions that make up our universe

[@joeolson6085]

How can you have value or anything for that matter in the absence of consciousness. Tell me please.

[@Ndo01]

Only humans need a 'why'. Reality doesn't need a 'why', it just is.

[@PazLeBon]

proving we dont 'all' need a 'why' ;)

[@johnbrzykcy3076]

Awake in bed I lie. I often wonder... "why?" I hear a distant cry. "Only humans seem to sigh." ( The mystery of "why" )

[@Ndo01]

@@johnbrzykcy3076 That's beautiful, thanks for sharing.

[@johnbrzykcy3076]

@@Ndo01 Thanks. I've been awake since 2:30 this morning. The "poem" just popped into my head. Glad you like it. Good morning from Florida !

[@Raidz-448]

Simple, because there's a debate to determine if there's a creator or not, that's 'why'. No creator = just is, creator = why?. Creator assumes a motivation by an intelligence. I'm not arguing for either, simply explaining that a why may exist beyond humans if it's determined there's some type of creator or all of reality is a single entity that has a will and intent.

[@credterfe]

Matter is composed basically of just a few kinds of particles, neutrons, protons. What's remarkable is that there are quadrillions of vigintillions of identical particles called neutrons , and there are same for protons. Their nature or property is the result of a decree. They are dictated into existence to serve His purpose as universal building blocks. Their nature is also maintained a constant by the Maker. A chance or blind process could not generate such a neat and great army of identical things, and there is no random law that can govern or guarantee its constancy . These two facts already guarantee a designer and a maker.

[@jedi4049]

Yup. Its pretty obvious. I think people just fight it. I used to be like that. I saw it more clearly when I got sober from alcohol 2 years ago.

[@adelinrapcore]

Maybe this universe could be nothing, in some other's point of view, " somebody" else could be looking at our universe and see nothing...anyway, existence and the fact that we can think about it , are an absolute miracle

[@Life22magic]

I think it's very good that it is mystery, i somehow think that it will be mistery forever. The fact that existence is mysterious makes it more beautiful. That unexplainable feeling of wonder when i look at the sky or i observe cat or tree gives meaning to everything.

[@dougg1075]

I wonder how Michu speaks around the house, he seems to always be in radio announcer mode. I like him though

[@MrZafarbuzdar]

What a journey , glad i am not alone. What a service.

[@carlito8003]

I've tried to imagine nothingness but my mind can't grasp it

[@itsalljustimages]

Can you imagine space? you probably won't be able to grasp that as well..

[@esauponce9759]

If by “imagine” you mean “having a mental picture of it”, then of course you’ll never imagine it. It’s obviously impossible because it’s not something. However, to conceive (which is not necessarily the same as “imagine”) of the concept of “nothing” (as a universal negative) is easy: it’s no - thing - at all.

[@fraser_mr2009]

@Richard Gangemi then where did god come from?

[@lucifer.Morningstar369]

​@@fraser_mr2009false question. It would be eternal, self existing. It didn't come from anywhere. It's clear, if you research enough in quantum physics and meta physics. Something at base reality is eternal, non created. That is the existence itself.

[@suecondon1685]

I think about these things every day of my life. But, for me, there's no such thing as nothing.

[@bobs2809]

I have always leaned towards finding it more plausible that nothingness is fictitious and the stuff has always been here in some form or another.

[@hogg4229]

But how can that be possible? At one time there had to be actual nothing. These questions are very mind blowing.

[@lucifer.Morningstar369]

​@@hogg4229that is false. Nothing doesn't exist, by logic. Energy in some form has and will always exist. The human mind is to limited to fathom it

[@gr33nDestiny]

Great episode

[@lindastraw3084]

I've got pleanty of nothin, and nothins pleanty for me

[@pranavvedpathak8357]

Conciousness is expressing itself in the form of universe.

[@gkillmaster]

This is just so excellent like all of your pursuits! One of my very favorite channels. Thanks fo what do do!!!

[@moses777exodus]

24:50 "Because Something exists, there must be something that is self existing." I AM (Source: Bible). Sir, you DO seem Closer to Truth.

[@Hashirama_Sinju]

From all the attempts to answer this fondamental question, this "...self existing" answer feels the most accepted even though I don't claim I understand it but it is so coherent with the intuition.

[@yujen1645]

Great work, this is my favorite KZbin channel!

[@pseudonomenclature8054]

Think of Everything with a capital E. Yes, all of it. Literally Everything. You're not going to find Nothing there, because if it were there it wouldn't exactly be Nothing, would it? But then in a sense because it isn't there then it IS there precisely because it isn't. Nothing is nowhere. Makes sense right?

[@CrustyUgg]

You’re trying so hard to be deep. Just stop. You’re embarrassing yourself 😂

[@pseudonomenclature8054]

@@CrustyUgg Deep? Is that really your takeaway? I was just being silly with an idea that popped into my head. Wasn't trying to be deep at all.

[@cheewurz]

God...Jehovah God, Created Everything

[@MarkLucasProductions]

I love everything about what Robert Lawrence Kuhn is doing but I nearly always find it frustrating - so frustrating that I can't watch to the end! I'm not entirely sure why I'm so frustrated with these videos - i just have to say I find them wonderful but 'unsatisfying'.

[@hawkerdoo]

It's most likely the fact that every question leads to another question and never any kind of determining answer. Example: "Why is there something rather than nothing." That question alone takes you down another rabbit hole since we know there's something and yet we can't even define what nothing is. Truth is an elusive concept.

[@MarkLucasProductions]

@@indi4091 No, I don't think so - but I take your point.

[@fraser_mr2009]

@@hawkerdoo it could simply be because nothing isn't a place... it has no time if there is no time then you have a collapse. so the universe creates itself. there s no space outside so the balloon inflates on its own. the space fills inside the balloon. the space becomes the area inside the balloon. self created energy. if you understand what i am saying. because there is nothing outside, nothing at all, this causes the space inside the balloon to expand. that way it generates its own energy.

[@hawkerdoo]

@@fraser_mr2009 How do you know what's outside the balloon, and if it's nothing g then it must be observable or it just remains an unknown.

[@fraser_mr2009]

@@hawkerdoo there is nothing outside of the balloon which is why time fills the balloon. a flat sheet of paper... 1 side absolutely nothing and the other side.. time absolutely nothing collapses to time. time self created. an absolute nothing is not a space so you have to create your own space. so it's kinds of like this cosmic bomb at the start by default. it throws out all sorts of dimensions and realities... 1 side creates because on the other side there is nothing to move into. 1 side squeeze, the other side create and inflate.....

[@marcosgalvao3182]

The answer of Mystery of existence is consciousness and it is the Mystery in itself . A Mystery inside a Mystery .

[@johnbrzykcy3076]

He finally admitted it : "which does not mean that I am any closer to truth."

[@rh001YT]

It's about time. It's like he's a slow learner.

[@johnbrzykcy3076]

@@rh001YT I'm a "slow learner" too. I've always been that way, but now my "chemo-brain" just compounds the problem.

[@cosmikrelic4815]

What do you mean finally? He says that at the end of just about every episode.

[@johnbrzykcy3076]

@@cosmikrelic4815 Ooops. Did I misunderstand what he said? Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it.

[@jiriblaha873]

It would be intetesting to interview Lawrence Krauss on this topic

[@diycraftq8658]

Tremendous question what a day it would be to know prob would push a human into insanity

[@eltatoyo9211]

Best scientific argument for God I've ever heard. Despite the scientific qualifications thanks. Mitchio.

[@jjharvathh]

Dang, I watched the whole thing, and NOBODY answered the question of why there is something rather than nothing. No one interviewed here knows the answer, methinks. Just a bunch of damn lip-flapping!!

[@itsTheo_0]

Dude, we’re in a horror movie I’m convinced...🙃

[@michaelj2536]

I have obsessed over that question since I was old enough to reason. How did everything begin and why are we here ......not a day goes by that I don't wrestle with that.

[@oskarngo9138]

There has to be something.. ..otherwise there won’t be anything to eat. ...and that would be bad.. ...since we would all go hungry.

[@clam4597]

We starve, and die, then there would be nothing.

[@oskarngo9138]

C Lam Yes, that’s why there “Must” be something... ...like “Beacon CheeseBurgers”!

[@clam4597]

@@oskarngo9138 It's noodles today:)

[@oskarngo9138]

C Lam Fresh Seafood Noodles! Delicious!!!!

[@clam4597]

@@oskarngo9138 Now that's something!

[@123Coffs]

The truth is it’s unanswerable. Nobody has an idea that is even close. The universe and all we (don’t) know about it is almost definitely just one tiny piece of something much larger. Something way beyond our comprehension.