The Question That Keeps Me Awake At Night

The most fundamental question we can ever ask: Why is something rather than nothing? Not nothing as in no particles or no energy, but nothing as in no space, no time, no laws of physics at all. This is a question that has haunted me for years and today this deepest of questions.
Written and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.
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::Music::
Music licensed by SoundStripe.com (SS) [shorturl.at/ptBHI], Artlist.io, via Creative Commons (CC) Attribution License (creativecommons.org/licenses/..., or with permission from the artist
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► 04:28 Falls - Ripley
► 08:11 Joachim Heinrich - Stjärna
► 09:49 Hill - Evening Approaches [open.spotify.com/track/3mYMED...]
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► 16:57 Joachim Heinrich - Y
::Chapters::
00:00 Restless Nights
02:35 Candle in the Dark
09:25 Ontological Crises
10:35 Why Not Nothing?
13:19 A Brutal Possibility
16:59 A Personal Reflection
#WhyIsThereAnything #WhyNotNothing #CoolWorlds

[@davidparker4732]

As a young boy, I’d lie on my back looking at the night sky and wonder “what is beyond the edge of the universe”. It was a frustrating, unknowable thought. This video gives me that same feeling.

[@John77Doe]

It was always cloudy from the smog created by the oil refineries in Elizabeth, so I never wondered about the universe. You couldn't even see the moon. 😃😃😃😃

[@vernonvouga5869]

I will never concede to not questioning the reality presented to me, especially if that reality only expresses itself whether or not i observe it.

[@Nitidus]

The idea that there is no edge because of how time and space are different over there is easier to conceive for me than how something could have been there at the creation of the universe that has no cause.

[@vernonvouga5869]

@@Nitidus I think the edge is the direct result of the fact that we're going towards the great attractor

[@tranbaohoangvu9464]

What interests me now is can we create nothing from all things in this universe .

[@InDecemberOfficial]

Being in a depression, I usualy find comfort in your videos. I so had it with people going about their lives never wondering about anything ever other than their new car or pictures on instagram. Yet this one is unsettling indeed and might actually be a motivation to start caring more about everyday life instead. Perhaps the answer of it all lays in just trying to be a good person, perhaps helping others suffices. Anyway, thanks for the great content. Greetings from Belgium.

[@XcooldereX]

Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self. Idk how relevant it is, but your post reminded me of this book.

[@4xDiscovery]

Ignorance is a blessing, but not everybody chooses to accept it

[@ahmedalani3513]

Look within, find god, and you surely cannot go wrong with doing good for others.

[@MrSindala]

It's the everlasting dilemma. If there is a purpose to life, is it to try and understand it? To find the answer to the great question of Life, the Universe and Everything? Or is that just an involuntary urge of our minds/brains and is the true purpose to fully immerse oneself in life. To experience it to it's fullest extent, in all it's richness, beauty, love, pain and horror, before we die. I think the answer is not the same for everybody. But then, how do we even begin to find an answer? I think that in the meantime trying to be a good person is a good idea though. ; ).

[@seandonahue8464]

I can understand your frustration, for me it is related to the idea too many people aren’t fond of using logic or reason or undervalue it. I think it may have been David Hume, Reason is the slave of Passion. I enjoy just wondering about it all and literally enjoy trying to learn about it as you said too.

[@Dan5482]

This is the kind of question that can easily make one dive into madness.

[@James-ll3jb]

Or ecstasy

[@TheKBC14]

come with me into a world of imagination

[@James-ll3jb]

@@TheKBC14 "There are no 'laws' that phenomena 'obey'!" --Nietzsche

[@popmonkey]

but why? 😊

[@adamjenkins2496]

Imagine that you just met someone and you ask, “Where are you from?” That question makes sense because that person manifestly exists in the first place. They must have come from somewhere. However, you can’t logically ask the same question to someone who was never conceived, never born and simply does not exist. The question has no meaning in that case. Asking “what caused the universe” implies that time “existed” “before” the big bang. This notion is basically assuming that time is a cause of itself, therefore rendering the question as problematic at its root because we have to use the manifest “existence” of time to even ask the question in the first place. We fundementally have no understanding of non-causality. We can’t even talk about it sensically. Our very language precludes describing anything without time, there simply is no verb that can describe “nothing” without the assumption of “something.” Time is the most fundamental reality that we can conceive, and without time, asking the question “what caused the big bang?” is like asking someone who never existed, “Where are you from?”

[@davsamp7301]

Quite to the contrary, the big bang would imply a Form of self-causation, for which the explanation of it Happening would be either by itself, or by nothing. The latter is obviously wrong and the Former wrong to precisely because it implies Change, i.e Time. The Fact, that Change exists at all, right here right now implies, that a beginning is Impossible, for nothing can begin without Change, i.e time. The universe may therefore behave how it likes, it never could have begun. If it is at all, it is eternal. It is indeed therefore no meaningfull Question to ask, what has been before the universe. But Not, because nothing could have been, before Time began, but rather, because nothing is Outside the universe and time, as Time is never not.

[@bobsurenko7044]

Would you please provide evidence that time is real? A long, long time (sorry) ago Einstein said time was a persistent delusion and I'm unaware of anyone proving him wrong.

[@010MACS]

You have an innate ability to not only create brilliant videos, but explain things very clearly and in a very relaxing way. The comments around all seem to say this too. I hope you realise the positive impact your videos have on people. Thank you Cool Worlds

[@CoolWorldsLab]

🙏

[@caresblair1234]

@@CoolWorldsLab pretty sure carl sagan was a masonic lucifarian (satanist), many of the so-called elites are (google the black eye club) so you can see why he would come at that question and give the answer they did...to compound that SOMEWHAT most religious people such as he was (even atheists operate on bases of faith/beLIEfs instead of pure knowledge so they have more in common than difference at the core) are also NPC matrix minions. We are two matrix's down from SOURCE as far as I know. The reason for the creation of TWO matrix's instead of just one is this. Like aligning a mirror perfectly with another mirror you can have the creation of an essentially unlimited number of stories or creations. So thus these games/simulations MAY continue throughout eternity future.

[@n2185x]

@@CoolWorldsLab This is an excellent video. But Tegmark's work doesn't, sadly, provide any solace in the end. In fact, nothing might. Why? Godel's Incompleteness Theorems.

[@todwiget8061]

I can not agree more. You have a rare gift to dig deep in a simple way.

[@kaledon6]

@@CoolWorldsLab Here are the steps to answer this question: 1- Modern science proved that even space and time can turn into "time and space" inside black holes 2- So, if even the "fabric of reality"(space and time) is not immutable, this means that EVERYTHING that exists may be subject to transformation AND NOTHING CAN BE DEFINED AS A PERPETURAL "SOMETHING" OR A PERPETUAL "ANYTHING", one can also say that the laws of physics are different in "other" universes 3- Then, the first part of the question (why there´s "something" or why there´s "anything") is a "FALSIFIABLE PREMISE", because NOTHING "SPECIFIC" EVER EXISTED 4- I am not saying that "nothing" exists, I am saying that nothing "SPECIFIC" EVER EXISTED (which could be defined as "something") 5- What exists is only the 'EVERYTHING" in perpetual transformation 6- And you should remember that words like REALITY or NATURE are used to describe EVERYTHING, reality is NOT "something", nature is NOT "anything", these words actually refer to the NON-SPECIFIC conjunction of all that exists 7- Finally, if you concede that reality ALWAYS EXISTED, that´s a better way to solve any idea of primary causation than Carl Sagan's suggestion that the "universe" always existed, because the "universe" is SOMETHING, while reality is EVERYTHING

[@lachlanschilling4426]

This question haunts me. Sometimes when I think about it, just for an instant, I’ll feel the world around me freeze and my mind go blank. It feels like nothing. And just like that, it’s over. My brain tries to reject it ever happened.

[@CoolWorldsLab]

When you truly grasp it, even just for a moment, you never forget

[@margu4u]

I think there can only be 2 "ways" of solutions: a) there was a situation where the rule of "effect happens after the cause", was not there / valid (so makes kind of sense: when there was really nothing, this rule didn't exist too) b) something managed to travel back in "time" and it was or created it's own cause

[@danielstan2301]

​@@margu4ui think the problem has 2 solutions: we were created or we simply exist. In the future other solution may appear. For example, if a hundred years ago there were very few that grasped the concept of a virtual world, of a simulation, but now everyone is aware of it and it looks like our world may be one. The main thing in the creation part is: do we have free will or not. For example, if the universe is a simulation, are we choosing our own path based on random decisions or are we just avatars of other brings that just control every thought it decision we make? I think in the future new things will be invented/discovered which will give us more options. I will like to live until then

[@margu4u]

@@danielstan2301 ...on "simply exist": I think this "answer" is not really a solution to this question. ...and the 2 questions / topics of virtual worlds / simulations and of free will, have nothing to do with this question here (...why is there something and not nothing (...because simulations are something too and need a "simulation machine" in the first place)

[@lolcollol212]

I thought I was the only one to sometimes momentarily feel exactly what you've described.

[@diaryofacrankykid7270]

My whole life I too have been plagued by existential questions that keep me up at night (4am here). The video in particular struck a chord with me, as you've perfectly captured the essence of the unease I feel about my own existence and my place in the universe that I find myself a part of. It is both terrifying and fascinating to consider the sheer magnitude of the universe and my own insignificance within it. The vastness of time and space, and the knowledge that I am here for only a fleeting moment, fills me with a sense of dread and wonder. I cannot help but ask myself: why do I exist at all? Is there a more foundational cause, or really should there even be one? If I had to guess, my intuition leads me to believe that the underlying reality could very well be mostly a timeless void, which only occasionally, after some indeterminate stretch of nothingness give rise to random perturbations ultimately resulting in fantastically improbable structures such as our own universe, capable of contemplating itself through the prism of our intellect. In this sense, I feel that each and every one of us plays a crucial, albeit infinitesimally tiny, part in the a universe's journey of self-discovery. And while it may be difficult to comprehend the vastness of the cosmos and its ultimate underpinnings, our existence serves as a reminder that we are a part of something much greater than ourselves. For why must consciousness exist at all in the first place. In any regard, as I lay here prostrate on my bed at 4am in the morning, I cannot help but feel an immense gratitude for my albeit fleeting presence in this universe and to even have this chance to contemplate such stupendously convoluted questions....

[@ragzy02]

Also plagued by existential questions and would love to hear other’s opinions/thoughts regarding the following: As a 41 year old, the last several years I’ve really started to question consciousness as I (like many others) suspect it to be a source for answers to these types of fundamental questions of existence/reality. My “question” is one regarding consciousness and the possibility that we are under the illusion that we have only perceived/are perceiving our reality in this particular body. I’m not referring to reincarnation in the traditional sense of the conventional term but more so a universal consciousness if you will. Perhaps when we die, we simply pop up in another body/time/universe and never know we lived before in another life. Again, not reincarnation in the traditional way the religious define it, but more so as a “branch” of one universal consciousness, perhaps all consciousness is the same thing. Perhaps there is no “you” or “me.”

[@fredriksvard2603]

@@ragzy02That's sort of my conclusion too. But i'd add that i think consciousness is more fundamental than matter and energy, and that the universe is emergent from consciousness rather than the other way around. I also don't think individual "souls" live on, but i think that perhaps the underlying consciousness "remembers" everything. Sort of like how you remember dreams you've had.

[@spacecowboy5274]

@@ragzy02 i think consciousness is material(caused by matter and energy and not some vague spiritual things),so if i were to take a bunch of subatomic particles and assembled it in the exact same way as my body is,i would be creating another me with exact same consciousness. If the universe lives for infinitely long or is infinite(or if it lives really long and or is very large,i dont know how to calculate precisely how much) then it is quite possible than somewhere in the universe there is or will be a bunch of subatomic particles by chance arranged exactly like me,thus creating another conciousness of mine.i dont think it would happen specifically at death though as you put it.

[@spacecowboy5274]

@@fredriksvard2603 Thinking that conciousness is not physical feels very much like Anthropocentrism(belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe).There is no reason we would have anything more than rocks or sand or bacteria or water molecules.

[@fredriksvard2603]

@@spacecowboy5274 The other way around, we'd be special if we were the only thing that "produced" consciousness, we'd not be very special if everything was made of consciousness and we were silly little local islands of it

[@Super_Beast124]

I love how simply and beautifully you are able to take the complex and often paradoxical feelings and emotions we know and experience, and present them so clearly in an easy to understand way. I've often pondered these very things, beginning at a very young age in church when i asked "where did god come from? What was his point of origin?" The only response i ever got was, "he was just always there." No beginning, no causality, no explanation. A brute fact, (which is another simplification of a more complex topic that i love), but one that left me full of doubt, and feeling tricked, lied to. Logic demands more. Many times I've felt frustrated and impotent when trying to convey this logically anomaly to another, bc i lacked the language to offer them a clear picture of what i mean, think, feel. I've given up at times bc i couldn't find a way to get someone to understand not just my message, but why it was important in the first place. However, this channel has been a tremendous boon in that department, offering a simplified or visual reference frame to some rather vast complex concepts, and with those came inspiration to approach other concepts in similar, or completely new ways. Thus i have become much better at articulating my ideas to others, and finally bringing them to that Eureka Moment, that brightening of the eyes where the concept is understood and the view expanded. And for that, i am eternally grateful. Question everything, think deeply, love fully, and of course, stay curious my friends.

[@adriangutierrez8657]

For all the Cool worlds lab, I can’t thank you enough for this amazing work.

[@devkit0]

To be honest, I find the sheer infinite depth of this causal abyss to be absolutely fascinating and thrilling to explore. Imagine, living in a universe so unthinkably vast and deep and complex, with such a long chain of explanations for everything everywhere you look. How lucky we are to have minds that can peer into this abyss, to be able to see the rhymes and reasons and symmetries within even the simplest things. It's all so beautiful.

[@marcosousa4029]

Indeed. I find confort in the honesty required and provided by this abyss.

[@Michael_C624]

Well said. Such a humbling, inspiring and connectedness learning about the universe can bring

[@chunyanmi5643]

No use if you can only see the universe, and you can't see the Japanese is the future.

[@k0lpA]

@@chunyanmi5643 what ?

[@chunyanmi5643]

yeah you can't see@@k0lpA

[@HolyGarbage]

I find it comforting to know that I am not alone to have experience this dread. It's a strong word, but but dread it is. This intellectual frustration without end. I once tried to present this question to people I knew on social media, and I was frustrated to find that not only did I find it incredibly difficult to even phrase the question in such a way that it would be fully understood, but also that I was mostly met by responses that I felt demonstrated that I had failed at this task. I think it's a very difficult thing to accept both intuitively and emotionally that the paradox even exist, and so many people I talked to kept coming up with explanations for which there was always trivial to continue the inquiry: why? I think you explained it quite well in the video, in that at the core of the question lies a problem, that it is something we ought to be able to ask, yet even from a hypothetical perspective without any knowledge of about how the universe works, we can derive its self recursive paradoxical nature. Yet, I find no other question to fill its place. My sympathies go out to those of you who has suffered under the immense existential burden that this simple question endows.

[@calebhawkins6137]

Not only is the content of Cool Worlds top notch, the transparency of Dr Kipping gives me solice. To know that I'm not the only one that gets stuck on these subject matters. Leads to a lot of philosophical self examination, and that is what keeps me up at night.

[@faaustad]

You have no idea how much I ADORE watching your videos. Your logical reasoning which you funnel the ideas and theories through is complex, yet you make it so understandable and easy to follow. See, I know you will upload another video on this channel relatively soon. And another, and another… and I honestly feel joy deep down just knowing that fact. I have never felt this way towards any kind of content and in a way it feels strange. I feel child-like, continuously pulling on mother’s sleeve asking if today is the day the summer holidays start and we go to seaside as promised just because the first rays of a warm spring sun are out. I can only say - thank you to David and the whole team for existing and for the work you’re putting into delivering this content to us. Just… THANK YOU! 🙏🏻

[@MDaDonLegacy]

How can it not be answered? We clearly live in someone's creation. There is no other answer but a simulation, created by a different type of entity we have no knowledge let alone understanding of. Our world as we know it, did not come from nothing, instead it was created by something. The simplest way I could explain this would be to use The Sims video game as a reference in comparison to our real life. You create a family, build a house, go to work, etc. Imagine those characters becoming "Woke", no matter how hard any of those characters try to understand how their world came to existence they would never get past the coding of the software they live in. The characters you created would live in a digital universe while you their creator lived in a biological universe. No matter what the sim character does they cannot possibly connect their digital world to ours, meaning they would never have an answer past coding aka their version of "the big bang". Which in full circle fashion, the Sim characters come to conclusion, they live in a simulation. Maybe one day the jump from our simulation to our creators simulation can be achieved.

[@davsamp7301]

We dont live in a Simulation necessarily, precisely because a Simulation implies a host Reality of different Kind, maybe Just Like ours, so it cannot be true of all Realities, that they are Simulations, and If so, ours could be No Simulation, If there are possibly more realities at all. It is Not possible to decide, If this is a Simulation or Not, until one could somehow Break it, which seems to be Impossible too. Instead of then positing, that we are in a Simulation, we should either abandon all Talk about it, or rather assume, that we live in a 'host-reality', for It makes more Sense to Talk of the only Known Thing to be more original then a imagined Copy. Let us not make such a Special Case of ourselfs.

[@suecondon1685]

This is me, every night. I used to hate insomnia, but since I have access to these wonderful videos, I don't fear being sleepless anymore. I just watch one of these Universe mysteries and think, think, think... what could it all be about? It haunts me too, and thank you for your thought provoking, excellent channel.

[@hyperduality2838]

Why? is dual to why not! -- Questions are dual to answers. answers imply questions. Something is dual to nothing -- Everything is dual to nothing. Being is dual to non being creates becoming -- Plato's cat. Alive is dual to not alive -- Schrodinger's cat. Thesis (alive, being) is dual to anti-thesis (not alive, non being) creates the converging thesis or synthesis -- Fichte's or the time independent Hegelian dialectic -- Hegel's cat. Schrodinger's cat is based upon Hegel's cat and he stole it from Plato (Socrates). Duality (thesis, anti-thesis) creates or synthesizes reality (non duality) -- the Hegelian dialectic. "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Classical reality is dual to quantum reality synthesizes true reality -- Roger Penrose using the Hegelian dialectic.

[@libanhussein3010]

the best logical reason for anything is an uncreated cause. ie god. I recommend to read the Quran. its a book that will give u answers. Have a nice day :)

[@jakobwachter5181]

@@hyperduality2838 In no way has Schrodinger echoed the intention of either Plato or Socrates. You see false similarity in both reason and intention.

[@MDaDonLegacy]

How can it not be answered? We clearly live in someone's creation. There is no other answer but a simulation, created by a different type of entity we have no knowledge let alone understanding of. Our world as we know it, did not come from nothing, instead it was created by something. The simplest way I could explain this would be to use The Sims video game as a reference in comparison to our real life. You create a family, build a house, go to work, etc. Imagine those characters becoming "Woke", no matter how hard any of those characters try to understand how their world came to existence they would never get past the coding of the software they live in. The characters you created would live in a digital universe while you their creator lived in a biological universe. No matter what the sim character does they cannot possibly connect their digital world to ours, meaning they would never have an answer past coding aka their version of "the big bang". Which in full circle fashion, the Sim characters come to conclusion, they live in a simulation. Maybe one day the jump from our simulation to our creators simulation can be achieved.

[@libanhussein3010]

@@MDaDonLegacy Well it looks like youre talking about the closest thing to god while denying god. Have u ever wonderered why majority of people now and through out history have always believed in a highet being. Different civiliasations who had no contact with eachother both believed in some kind of higher being. According to the islamic Theory on this is two things, First we have an innate position from the get go to believe in a highet being, this can be clouded by what our parents and society teaches us. The second thing is god created us and didnt leave us without a purpose, he sent many messengers who preached the word of god. After the messenger was gone they started to go astray, thats what we believe of the christians. Then god sent his last prohpet with the miraculous Quran. Quran is the only book in the world wich claims it is from the creator of everything. What is your excuse not to give it a read then?

[@therantingboy]

This idea and the concept of infinity hit me like a tonne of bricks around 9 or 10 years old and somehow I linked this to death and fear of dying. The thought sends me into existential dread on a daily basis

[@Max-il5hx]

Same. Was maybe 12 when I thought "why is anything here at all?...Why all the stuff?" It scared me and not much usually did.

[@johnholly7520]

I really look up to you Doctor. I watch a lot of science content providers. You, Sean Carroll, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Sabine, and Matt O’Dowd are my favorites. I love you guys. Thank you for enriching my life.

[@philochristos]

Anton Petrov has a good channel you should also check out if you haven't already.

[@joewhite7418]

Check out Roger Penrose if you haven’t yet. He has a great concept of a cyclic universe that

[@darrenjones6765]

I like Sean Carroll. Really good in 5he office.

[@prototropo]

I agree, John. My anxiety about life and curiosity about the world have been reassured and enriched, respectively, by Dr. Kipping. I sometimes hope he doesn't feel burdened by all the praise he gets. But it's quite genuine if you read some of the many comments, and he deserves it! Matt O'Dowd is also great, though more cued to granular detail than cosmic sweep.

[@carlosribaltes6110]

@@philochristos damn, you beat me to it :) I was going to recommend Anton also :)

[@howard_phillips_lovecraft]

My favorite channel in KZbin. Not only your videos are amazing in both themes and editing, but how you explain it is incredible as well. Hope to see more videos like these in the future. With love from Spain 💪🇪🇸

[@Tigs2]

David, as a young boy I loved Carl Sagan. He inspired me. Now at 63, I have to say that having been saddened by his death, i am delighted to have found you! As far as I am concerned, YOU, are the new Carl Sagan. I have binge watched almost all your videos, they are next level. I wish you could stop doing your Uni work and just make videos 😆 Thanks for inspiring the new generation.

[@insidiousrage4436]

First video ive seen of this man and i must say he is brilliant, insightful, and so honest and real about his thoughts. Great channel

[@OverlordOfNerds]

Few things in life stimulate my brain and tug at my heart together like this has. I do not know, I cannot describe the feeling of immense curiosity and wonder I have. The lack of an answer does not scare me, it excites me. The idea that our intellectual pursuits are endless is so remarkable and even if there are things which are unanswerable, we can still wonder at the marvels of our world. Thank you for making this video

[@abhisheksing8379]

It scares the sh*t out of me when I am in that zone. I think there are three ultimate questions: How can the universe be infinite (or finite)? How can anything pop out of nothing (or could have always existed)? How does this material body come to be conscious? It is very satisfying to see others having the same questions, but when I am in that zone, it is quite scary, and I begin to ask whether these people are real or I am being deluded. It was oddly comforting to see an Indian in the comment section.

[@OverlordOfNerds]

@@abhisheksing8379 The last sentence cracked me up lmao. Hope you are having a good time whenever you read this, sir.

[@joaquimkeloglanian4801]

I’ve been going through a sort existential crisis the past few weeks. Seeing other people discuss existential topics is quite reassuring as I know that I am not alone. Thank you for posting this video.

[@rharpman]

keep it simple: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kH2ceaZsl8h9r5o

[@ronaldgarrison8478]

Existential crisis…Hmmmm,…Does that mean you're not sure if you really exist? TBH I make this comment partly because "existential" has become quite a cliché recently, to the point where it can mean many different things, depending on who is using the term.

[@classifiedsecret6383]

To take a term from IT, the meaning of life is "User definable". So pick a meaning that you like and go with that.

[@GeekyNeil]

Joaquim, You're not alone. I've been through an existential crisis and came out the far side. It helped me to think of reality as a series of conscious experiences which can be good or bad. I have no idea if that helps you.

[@dtphenom]

I strongly recommend looking up InspiringPhilosophy on YT. He makes some of the best videos on the deep questions of life.

[@Billybobble1]

Your writhing body language when you said you could not accept a 'brute fact', I suddenly felt we were connected like brothers. This video is the definition of my adolescent brain trying to wrangle the universe, a couple of decades later and I managed to let go, for my own sanity. It does not in any way mean I was satisfied, but it was harming my experience of life visiting these questions. The universe was inevitable, I just don't know why, and I need to be okay with that, and at least for now, I am 🙂 Amazingly insightful and poetic video, as ever. Thank you.

[@davsamp7301]

Thank you for your Post. I Just wanted to share the knowledge with you, that you Said you dont have. To know, that one knows, one must understand the Question one raises and its implications, for how else is one to know that one found, what one has been looking for? If one asks, why Something is inevitable, one must understand, that inevitable means necessary, which means, that it is Impossible for it to fail to exist. If one now speaks of the universe, one must be aware of the what one means by that. If meaning only the Observable, or anything particular with it, one must admit until today, to Not know the cause for its development. But If one means by universe what could be called "All at all" for Lack of better words, one means Something destinct and formal with that. Indeed, everything that Happens and is, is necessary, for it would Not be, If Not. This being so by their causes and constitution. But we want to ask, why there is Not absolute nothingness, ergo Something, indifferent to what it is, for it would be Something, therefore the formal Nature of the Question. Now, If one understands, that absolute nothingness is Impossible, as surely everyone does without effort, one already Sees what follows. Either there is absolute nothingness, or Something. Because the Former is Impossible, by Logic the latter must be true. It further must be true, as Something is undeniable and a fact Not only of experience, but also logically. If there is Something, Something could Not have failed to be, i.e, it is Impossible for Something Not to be. There you have the answer put in one way. It is as simple as that, although it seems extraordinarily difficult to accept for many, what i dont understand. It seems to me, that they insist on trying to do the Impossible. I Hope my Message could Help.

[@Billybobble1]

@@davsamp7301 Holy smokes that's a long reply! I think you're saying we need to simply accept what is, but with the knowledge of knowing what isn't, right? If so, yeah that's where I'm at, but it was a long path to get there. I think Thanos said it best with "I am....inevitable" 😆☮

[@davsamp7301]

@@Billybobble1 :). What you say seems to reflect, what i tried to say, If they mean to say, that we should Not try to Go beyond what is possible, for it is futile, and that there is a definitive answer, which one has to accept, for to Not do so is absurd. Therefore one also gets to know, what is Not the Case, indeed. If it was that, that you meant, we could very Well be on the Same Page. Yes, Just Like thanos ;) 🙈

[@Billybobble1]

@@davsamp7301 Yeah I think we're on the same page, just using slightly differing language which is all good. If you try to think what was before the big bang, just stop! Appreciate what you CAN see, and be content ☮

[@davsamp7301]

@@Billybobble1 oh No, that is Not what i am saying. Go beyond it, No Problem, If one even can, but dont think, that ' All ' had a beginning and Stop searching for an answer beyond the simple necessity of it, Like in the Question about Something and absoluty nothing. This has a definitiv answer, that one is capable of knowing Just by Logic, while the developments before the big bang are a topic of Physics, of which i am curious what it will find Out. Dont make your Peace with what is still Out in Question. But Stop looking for an answer beyond the literal answer, Like Someone, who, while Holding His glasses already in His hands, runs around looking for them. If, what you mean with what you say about the big bang, is to mean Something Like asking when Time began, i agree that one must Stop asking. But Not because one cannot know the answer, but because one knows it. Time cannot have begun, because it is Time, and would thereby presuppose Time before it. But since Time cannot be before Time, Things did never start, but are always moving at total. So whatever the big bang is, it can reasonably be only the beginning of developments out of it, but Not of 'All' including itself. As i was Not, before i was born, i will cease to be, but the total flow of Things never.

[@brianmonahan1131]

Brilliant - thank you. Im starting to think this channel is one of the best available.

[@singinceil]

As mind numbing as this question is, i kind of like the feeling that comes with it. It feels like you are being detached from reality for a split second, like a welcoming madness. I used to dislike this feeling but somehow it makes me optimistic and hopefull, in a way. I guess i just accepted that gap, like a goal which we may never reach but fuels us with curiosity and determination to find out more about this fascinating universe.

[@abhisheksing8379]

You described it perfectly. My first time was scary, though.

[@Simo-un2zu]

Weird, this happens to me too. Like you're latching onto something your mind isn't configured to understand, just for a moment. I'm not sure what exactly causes it. It might be the realisation that existence is the default form of reality, that there was always something and never nothing, and because of that, that thing, whatever it is, is eternal.

[@wakawakasilver]

Felt the same way actually. I know what you mean. My feeling came from really thinking about the end of the universe. I try picturing after death and I’m just floating watching time/space. Is time quick? Will I see everything accelerate so much that any life throughout the universe is impossible? Will the “big crunch” occur? Will an equilibrium happen and what then? Does any sentient being just wait until the universe dies out? Will it ever die out? All these questions made me feel that detached feeling you described. I also turned around that feeling by just accepting it. And now I just try to live my life as best as I can because that’s the only thing i really can do. I may not know why or how the big bang happened. Or what’s beyond the universe. Or how the universe will end. But i do know how i will try to spend the time i have on earth because why not? I’m here, i’m alive, let’s just live.

[@UrbFoxFact]

@@Simo-un2zu well done - that was enough word salad to end world hunger

[@singinceil]

@@wakawakasilver I agree, let's just live and make the best out of our lives. Still, the question slumbers in the background and will always draw me back in sometimes.

[@bruceneeley1724]

It's refreshing to hear that others lay awake thinking about these questions. If human civilization survives the great filter will we evolve to a level where we can wrap our minds around these problems without a panic attack. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this video. It's inspiring.

[@John77Doe]

Protons don't decay. The universe is eternal. In the end, there will just be a vast sea of protons gradually repelling each other further and further away due to the repulsion of their positive charge overcoming their gravitational attraction. 😃😃😃😃😃😃

[@w0tch]

You are not alone, we are sparsely distributed but we are there ! A team of thinkers who have gone out of Platon’s cave 😂

[@jakubkubinsky8627]

Glad to know i am not the only weirdo getting panic attacks when going down the thought rabbit hole that is our existence, death, reality and Universe.

[@falsevacuum4667]

@@John77Doe There is no evidence that protons do not decay, just as there is no evidence that they do decay. We only have theories, but the universe is too young to know for sure.

[@w0tch]

@Gary Allen There are multiple different interpretations to this myth

[@bmebri1]

I think this is one of your best videos. Excellent job!

[@kike_zeron]

My God! How I love your channel! You have a way of explaining science that is almost philosophical, normally youtubers who are scientists talk to us in a clear but dry way, true but without emotion, elegant but without a way to apply it to one's life, it's just like a naked truth, but you have a way of making that truth so yours and expressing what it makes you feel, that anguish of reasoning that elegant truth but instead of feeling it naked you practically make it inside your own and very personal, I love listening to you because you make your videos almost poetic of any topic you talk about. ...what's more... I feel like a student in ancient grace must have listened to the philosophers of his time as they explained to him about their universe and how it worked. Thank you for existing David K.❤

[@BornAgainstAll]

When I was 6 and discovered the question "why?" was a bottomless pit, and I used it to intentionally annoy my older siblings knowing it would guarantee victory. They were surprisingly stubborn and answered it to the best of their abilities, until they became dissatisfied with their own lack of knowledge and refused to participate any further. However, this was the first time I was introduced to many basic concepts about the physical world that I hadn't yet encountered until then. I became enamored by the question "why?" and this is one of my strongest memories from childhood, and inspired who I've become. I can no longer tell if this is my greatest strength or a curse.

[@KillerAceUSAF]

Why?

[@N.i.c.k.H]

Surely, as a child, you too, had many dialogues similar to this: "Why is there something and not nothing?" "Because I'm your father and I said so!" 🙂

[@kenhiett5266]

I often wonder the same thing about the day I came to realize free will wasn't real. It can be a real mind suck, but I'm also grateful for the insight as I'm deterministically built to be.

[@KillerAceUSAF]

@@N.i.c.k.H why?

[@arkabhsaha]

I have always eagerly waited for any upload from this channel. Absolutely love cool worlds ❤️❤️

[@raveon4669]

thank u so much for vids like this. it gives me such comfort i did not even know i needed.

[@worrierqueen5695]

Excellent ep David with beautifully soothing music to quell our rising panic. You are not alone, this is THE fundamental question.

[@tramsgar]

It's getting increasingly harder to stay curious, but I really appreciate your videos. Thanks.

[@JoeNagle1987]

Wow! That was possibly your best video yet. When science makes you feel deeply, you know you’re pushing on something important. Keep pushing!

[@popmonkey]

i only recently discovered this channel and it's already my favourite. I would love to see a video with Dr Kipling discussing The Hard Problem of Consciousness as well.

[@sacukel]

This is really an incredible video. I've watched a lot of philosophy and cosmology videos on KZbin but this video, and this channel, really brings it together.

[@InfiniteRegress]

Another excellent video! Thank you for always picking such great topics and consistently putting so much thought and effort into addressing them. ^_^

[@thagrintch]

This video. This is why we keep coming back. You have this unique ability to mix human emotion and feeling, with science; subjectivity through an objective lens. The Sagan clip was one of my favorites. Thank you for evoking true wonder from the world. Great, deep questions, and we know the work and effort you put into these videos. I love how you show your own personal struggle with the question. Thank you David for another unique video.

[@daybertimagni4841]

There is only one thing that anyone can be absolutely certain of - that you are conscious. In so, consciousness must be fundamental, and cannot be ignored in any true explanation of the universe. Consciousness extrapolated points to design.

[@markuskorriman]

I must admit, it's fascinating listening to the many takes on this subject; the views people have on this sort of endlessly recurring question. Personally, though, I've never quite seen it as "a question we will never be able to answer", and perhaps something closer to, "a question will will never stop answering"; even should we learn everything else there is to learn of this universe of ours, there'll always be something to ponder; a goal to chase for as long as we're around to chase it.

[@eveggf]

Thank you so much for this video. There are few nights were i don’t think about this question, and i never discuss it with anyone. Its a relief seeing this video, it reminds me im not alone in thinking about this.

[@dazraf]

I loved this. Some advice from someone that's struggled with this question: ultimately, as an agnostic, we stay curious and when we reach that "cosmological demon" I wallow in the mystery of what I do not and may never know. The suffering of the curious in the face of the ultimate mystery is beautiful in itself. It is the ultimate meaning of my own existence.

[@musicdev]

I love this channel so much :’) you somehow make the topic of space more interesting than it already is. Thanks, Cool Worlds

[@xcskier29]

Whenever I hear the question "Why?" I always think back to Richard Feynman's explanation about how's it's impossible to answer a why question. There's always a deeper level to asking why; there's always another why to ask. You have to decide for yourself when you feel satisfied a given answer captures the scope of what you want to know. "You have to know what it is that you're permitted to understand and allow to be understood and known, and what it is you're not."

[@speckgens]

“why” implies a reason, a motivation so to speak. I think “why” is better to replaced with “how”.

[@Super_Beast124]

Feynman was a rare, brilliant mind. I still love to reread some of his works, watch the videos of him that exist. It's so sad that everyone knows and celebrates liars and pretenders, better know as actors and celebrities, while the geniuses philosophers and Nobel Prize winners fade away into the abyss, unknown and uncelebrated by the vast majority. That thought keeps me up at night

[@clblowe]

The way you explain these complex problems and ideas is akin to poetry. I love listening to your videos as a result. Thank you for your work

[@jzblue345]

I absolutely love this video and this channel. I always used to think I was the only person asking some of these questions.

[@BouwmanAdventures]

This exact question use to drive me insane as a teenager...I thought about it way too much, trying to figure how anything could exist from nothing. I honestly thought I was going crazy for a long time.

[@frogisis]

It's an important question to ask, but the two thing that always dug me back out of it ever since I was a kid and started wondering about this kind of stuff, were 1) the idea of there genuinely being (har) _nothing at all_ is still unwittingly smuggling in two assumptions of there being something very important: _time_ and _yourself as an observer._ The unstated rest of the question is essentially "Why is there something rather than _currently_ nothing _that stays like that forever?"_ If this state of perfect nothingness nevertheless lasts for eternity, then it still has _extent,_ with whatever dreamlike whisper of change (in something) might be needed to instantiate moments in time, and if its duration in time is finite, with even the most infinitesimal slivers of existence between [Tree3]-numbers of millennia of oblivion, then it's nevertheless existentially inaccessible and can only be conjectured about by observers outside of it where there _is_ something, since you can't ever find yourself there to be like "Yep, that's the Void, aright-Told ya." And if it possesses no time whatsoever... Well, it's hard to even conceive of what that means without a situation where it's over before it begins and giving way to time-bound Something again. Non-Being that's too perfect negates even itself to make way for Being (this is sometimes called a "meiontic void," the kind of "unreachable" nothingness exemplified by "what's outside" the universe in classical Einsteinian spacetime, or how no one is in the set of people who will never be born). ...And 2) in a state of perfectly lawless total nonexistence, there's nothing to stop there suddenly being something anyway. It's literally just "why not"-You've just said there are _no rules,_ so in a way you're not actually describing "nothingness" at all, you're describing _primordial chaos._ There is quite explicitly "nothing to stop" a Big Bang singularity from popping into being just because it can. Additionally, to be a little cheeky about it, there's the notion that the total energy content of the universe is zero, and that we live in a kind of Borgesian "Library of Babel" Everettian state-space whose _total_ information content is also zero (because by indiscriminately specifying every configuration of everything, the whole gestalt is just random noise), and so in a very real sense there really _would be_ "nothing" after all, this is simply "what nothingness looks like from the inside" (though I also like the shorter smartass response to this question that given how much of the the universe is just vast intergalactic and interstellar voids, to a first approximation there _is_ still nothing). ...I'm glad you got to Tegmarkian Mathematical Platonism as well, though-This was essentially the answer my mom always gave when I asked her as a kid, though she framed it in terms of "pure potentiality," as she put it, still existing as a necessary abstraction along with mathematics, and us existing anthropically in the zone of metaphysical possibility where there _is_ actualization.

[@amilmartinez9078]

Thank you for all you do and the knowledge you bring to us.

[@coppercore6287]

This was beautiful, and brought a tear to my eye. I had just found your videos thanks to Fraser Cain, and I've watched a few. This one though... it really resonated with me, and makes me hunger for even more knowledge about it all. Quite frankly, nothingness is boring, it's everything where things get interesting. Thank you for this.

[@piotrbukowski9566]

Thank you for this video. I wondered if anyone else thought about this topic as deeply as me. I was a bit worried that not many other people were also struck with this sudden, frightening thought which is kinda hard to explain with words.

[@rhorho2]

Always a good day when a new Cool Worlds upload hits! Thought-provoking, well delivered high quality science content.

[@AUKronos]

I can't put into words how much i love your channel. Discussions like these are confronting but oddly comforting to explore because without staying curious, we really are left with nothing. The concept of nothing is so complex, and even if we don't figure it out in my lifetime, it makes me happy knowing there are people in this community who are pushing the boundaries of understanding our universe and existence

[@hyperduality2838]

Why? is dual to why not! -- Questions are dual to answers. answers imply questions. Something is dual to nothing -- Everything is dual to nothing. Being is dual to non being creates becoming -- Plato's cat. Alive is dual to not alive -- Schrodinger's cat. Thesis (alive, being) is dual to anti-thesis (not alive, non being) creates the converging thesis or synthesis -- Fichte's or the time independent Hegelian dialectic -- Hegel's cat. Schrodinger's cat is based upon Hegel's cat and he stole it from Plato (Socrates). Duality (thesis, anti-thesis) creates or synthesizes reality (non duality) -- the Hegelian dialectic. "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Classical reality is dual to quantum reality synthesizes true reality -- Roger Penrose using the Hegelian dialectic.

[@jykox]

When we existing now we already know total nothingness and total everything is not exist because they naturally are the boundaries of the existence itself. So existens is the same like expanding boundaries without ewer stepping outside in one or other side. u can by close to nothingnes like trying to remenber something before u born and close to ewerything whenu try to imagine how it should look like ewery posible thing and ewerything existing now in this moment . So true is here is no ewerything and here is no nothing its just pushing boundaries without ewer steping outside.

[@maak6270]

I don't think it's a good question. "True" nothingness can't have any definition or meaning, so it's impossible to consider or use in math. Put another way: "a total lack of anything" is beyond any logic, so you can't put it in a question, and expect any meaningful answer, right? :)

[@rl7012]

'The concept of nothing is so complex'. It is not complex at all. Nothing does not exist. There is no nothing.

[@DrewAgave1988]

I love your videos! Very thoughtful and interesting! Keep up the great work! 😁

[@arman.assadi]

David, thank you for not only featuring Robert’s voice at the beginning of this video (it fit perfectly), but for also giving him and Closer to Truth the shout out it deserves. My two favorite channels on KZbin.

[@Aphex217Twin]

probably the most compelling video I've ever seen dealing with this question

[@user-rm3yo2cj3g]

Great video! Few people can put all this mess into words and you managed to do it!

[@DavidVega-wi5pr]

You're a righteous man I support your work ,love your content and really agree with hypothesis

[@jlwilder8436]

Of all the many great episodes this channel has given us... this one is especially beautiful, perfect in its blending of melancholy and hopefulness. It may be a masterpiece, like "journey to...", and why so few see these (I don't know) 😕 But I hope this one, too, gets it's millions of views. 🙂

[@dustman96]

I'm with you. It causes me real discomfort thinking about this. Both nothingness and somethingness are equally disturbing. I can't imagine what we could possibly discover that would explain this.

[@jamesjoelholmes4541]

I love these essays. They always lead me to more questions. For some time now, I have felt in my gut, my mind-how the Big Bang happened. I just don't have the language of maths to describe it. It requires an ability to think in at least 4 dimensions. I also think to myself, "it certainly cannot be that simple." However-and I cannot help but think that there are major blind spots in my thinking-yet, I simply cannot ignore my gut, my mind, and what I've studied and learned in my life. I sometimes think that if I could collaborate with a mathematician, we may be able shine just a little light on why is there something rather than nothing. One, brut fact, that is extremely difficult for me to see past is that I do not think there was a beginning of anything. Our Universe has an age, but how old is the Universe that gave birth to ours through-I think-a black hole on the other side of our Big Bang. And back, and back, and back, and back. How many Universes has our Universe given birth to? These ideas break my brain, but I cannot stop considering them. I am more of a philosopher/artist than a scientist, and I wonder sometimes if the Universe itself might not be dissimilar. That possibly some of our equations are too rigid to express the poetry and beauty of what we see around us. At any rate, I super appreciate the work you do, and the closing phrase you always utter, "stay curious." I certainly will my friend.

[@roguedravidan2746]

Once I learned about the Big Bang (as a kid) I started having mental exercises about the origin of the universe and what's "outside" of it. But as a non-scientist (and mathematically challenged person) I could never explore it fully as I lacked the mental tools/knowledge necessary for it. Now I hold a theory that's similar to what you've very beautifully described here. I just lack the verbal intelligence to put them into cohesive words. However, you have beautifully explained it here that almost captures my own thoughts about this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[@Jasondurgen]

Quite literally, the metaphor of the black sea could be the simple, blanket answer to our questions. Imagine the entirety of space and time being equivalent to the surface of an ocean. When there are calm waters, the universe is at peace and the chaos of disorder caused by galaxies, black holes, stars, etc. is at a low. And when a storm comes and you start getting waves (in universe- speak, waves of increasingly complex and connected quantum “probabilities” rather than water) you start getting galaxies and the like until the storm passes, stars burn out, planets are flung lifeless into the cold, dark depths of a corpse of what they once called home, black holes fizzle, and the ocean is calm. That’s what I think about often when pondering the universe. I use the wave analogies because of quantum mechanics, but I too lack the abilities to convey exactly and understandably what I mean in an objective manner rather than this abstract idea. But that’s just what I think

[@mayflower-emjay]

You don't know how much I love your channel man.

[@benmathews2762]

This very question has been on my mind for the past several months. Why does existence exist? Every time I think about it too long, I feel like my mind ends up right at the threshold of being able to actually imagine "nothingness", but then a door suddenly slams shut and the feeling fades away. It always plays out that way.

[@drybeanburrito]

“Why does existence exist?” There can be no cause that precedes existence without existing. Therefore, existence is uncaused. Yet, it is not a brute fact, either.

[@chrismcknight7164]

Maybe there cannot be nothing, there is some contradiction that always leads to something

[@PerpetualSmile]

I get the same feeling. It happens when I try to think about infinity, as well. If something created the universe, something created that thing, and something created that thing, and so on and so on until you get to the point that something came from nothing. It's mind-boggling.

[@suspiciousskepticism6306]

@@PerpetualSmile have you considered the theory of cognitive dissidents? I find myself confronting this idea alot lately... Alot of it seem to lead back to the problem Neo had when Morpheus told him what the matrix was. The truth didn't set in till he had crossed the threshold and had been shown what his minds would allow him to understand. Even then he struggled, even if he could go back, would he really want to?

[@exoexpansion]

Existence exists because you are experiencing it. If you didn't exist, not even nothingness would be because you weren't aware. So, awareness is the major condition for existence and nothingness. All there is, is, because we are aware. Now, this can be more complicated if we have a consciousness that can create a false reality and narrative where us, mortal materialistic egos, experience a form of existence in a supposed simulation. When you play Mario lol, does Mario exist?

[@truthteller1246]

Everything about this channel is fantastic

[@hyperduality2838]

Why? is dual to why not! -- Questions are dual to answers. answers imply questions. Something is dual to nothing -- Everything is dual to nothing. Being is dual to non being creates becoming -- Plato's cat. Alive is dual to not alive -- Schrodinger's cat. Thesis (alive, being) is dual to anti-thesis (not alive, non being) creates the converging thesis or synthesis -- Fichte's or the time independent Hegelian dialectic -- Hegel's cat. Schrodinger's cat is based upon Hegel's cat and he stole it from Plato (Socrates). Duality (thesis, anti-thesis) creates or synthesizes reality (non duality) -- the Hegelian dialectic. "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Classical reality is dual to quantum reality synthesizes true reality -- Roger Penrose using the Hegelian dialectic.

[@mariagabrielagoncalvesmart82]

13:52 this questions have made me lose sleep at night too for quite a long time. So by watching this, the first thing that pops up in my head is that indeed, there is a reasonable chance that this might end up turning into a paradox. However, there is only ever the chance for this paradox to manifest itself instead of nothingness, due to the simple fact that the person who has fallen into the paradox exists. If you had never been born, there would be nothing, ever, at all. And you would have - I know it's quite obvious - “experienced” nothingness. So maybe being alive is what causes this paradox by somehow trying to reason with an unknowable concept to an alive brain such as nothingness, the absence of time and space, or death. Our brains are responsible for the life we experience, this thing we call “reality”, when indeed many of us know it’s a huge illusion - like the concept of time, which not even physicists feel comfortable talking about; or mass, which is just a manifestation of the resistance to motion -. What we see, smell, touch, taste and think is nothing but part of this illusory experience and this is why there won’t be anything for us to find beyond the limits of what these senses can perceive through these archaic tools we call our senses. I´m not gonna lie, I have experienced the deepest, most disturbing existential crisis whenever I think about this, but ironically, at the same time, it's the only thing that gives me the will to keep going.

[@dmitrysamoilov5989]

a paradox = nothing

[@curiouscat94x77]

Anyone else realize something similar to this at a young age? It was like 5-8, can’t remember the exact age. I felt like a piece of my brain fell out and reality shattered, it was scary. I became the quiet kid and saw the world differently, I found comfort in video games. Now I find comfort knowing I’m not the only one who has had existential crisis. I’m glad I didn’t have to be the one to “ruin existence for the next person” by letting them know that there is infinity before you’re born, and infinity after you die, or at least the feeling that it is the case. I never brought it up and just let people enjoy their problems and happiness… haha 😸 Edit: Stay Curious, and enjoy the ride! You and I have a similar mindset it seems 😹

[@cortneyrens]

Same here, I would have the same question of why is there something vs nothing, and “why am I me??” (Vs my consciousness being in an animals or another humans body). And I was very quiet, I think cause my mind was always thinking of deep, way over other 8 year olds heads (or even most of my teachers heads actually), I feel like the part of my brain that deals with metaphysics/philosophy type things was always advanced compared to other kids and adults, so it’s nice to see deep thinking ppl who had these thoughts when young also 😺

[@Debbie-henri]

Ah yes. The magic age of 8. Many of us come here to this question at that age, a good many having rejected religion at more or less the same time. I became more interested in science and space especially at that age, always drawing comparisons and coming up with theories throughout life. Maybe there can be no 'nothing.' Look at how long we thought a vacuum had 'nothing' in it, until scientists detected fields and particles going in and out of our dimension. Maybe one day they will be able to remove those fields somehow, and still find something there.

[@Salted_Potato]

I have pondered on this question several times in my life but this video just brought out something that made me tear up

[@brianhourigan]

All I know before I watch this, is I am very happy to exist and to have experienced life

[@hunam3876]

Is it real life though.

[@Nulley0]

i think you are hypnotising yourself?, good for you

[@dandyND]

yeah I would rather exist and gets to think about these types of questions rather than not existing at all, imagine how boring that would be

[@pepelota74]

​@@dandyND You wouldn't "be". So it wouldn't be boring, or anything at all.

[@MCsCreations]

Me too. Have fun, everyone. That's all.

[@scottkirby7068]

These are the best videos on the Internet.. you are a global treasure.

[@curtismenzies428]

I needed to hear this. Thank you.

[@javierartimemuniz7044]

My favorite of all videos in your channel so far. Your personal vulnerability helped me bringing up my own struggle to light. I also struggle to accept brute facts, mathematical apriorism, turtles all the way down, or the non answerable nature of some fundamental questions. We don't know yet is a better answer in my opinion, maybe because that helps us stay curious. We should keep struggling. Thank you for a wonderfully provoking video.

[@w0tch]

There is so much progress to make to have any hope of answering this question, I have no doubts I will be long dead by then and it’s really really frustrating, but searching for answers is a delicious path that even gives meaning to life

[@richardrose2606]

"We don't know yet" is not a satisfactory answer for me. It assumes that an explanation exists and is knowable.

[@analaurarodriguezgusta9028]

What an inspiring video! Cool Worlds Lab always challenging us with new fundamental questions -- to "stay thoughtful and stay curious" they also inspire me to stay open minded and self-reflexive. Love this CoolWorlds crowd a lot!

[@wseam1]

Glad I stumbled upon this, I saw this guy on the Lex Fridman podcast recently and I found their discussion fascinating.

[@kesgunningham584]

After watching this now i know i know why i always watch videos like this, its to figure out in as best a way as possible the answer to "but then what" this is the most conclusive and somehow the most satisfying reasoning ive heard

[@hazardousmaterials1284]

I’ve watched Robert Lawrence Kuhn‘s “Closer to Truth” for a long time. I appreciate his channel almost as much as yours! I think that one roadblock to finding an answer to “Why is there something rather than nothing?” is the axiomatic expression: “From nothing, nothing comes.” You’ve expressed that much more elegantly, saying “There are no rules we can employ to generate an instability.” My question in reply to both is: How do we know that? What experience with absolute nothingness have we obtained to make any claim about it? That sounds counterintuitive, but I’m serious. True metaphysical nothingness is far more removed from our understanding than relativity or quantum physics, and those have been shown to be radically different from our expectations and what we once considered logical. A state of pure abstract nothingness needs to be studied before making any definitive claim about it. We are probably five Einsteins away from approaching that topic, but in the meantime, we shouldn’t impose limitations on our curiosity by presuming the nature of “Deep Nothing”.

[@rezadaneshi]

Can the nothing be made of dark matter? Every point you made falls in place if you can define “nothing” with what it is rather than what it’s not and you win by default. We’re at the limits allowed by our language.

[@LG-hp5wh]

Are you saying that nothing may not or can not exist? Interesting thought….

[@Nitidus]

It's not that hard. Nothing is a word, a word has a definition. Nothing means the absence of everything. End of story. Whether that is at all possible or not is an entirely different question, therefore it does not "need to be studied", as you say. Whatever might divert from the above definition needs a different word. Or maybe, there is no word for it. But language is a far more practical and less nebulous than some people would like it to be, haha.

[@hyperduality2838]

Why? is dual to why not! -- Questions are dual to answers. answers imply questions. Something is dual to nothing -- Everything is dual to nothing. Being is dual to non being creates becoming -- Plato's cat. Alive is dual to not alive -- Schrodinger's cat. Thesis (alive, being) is dual to anti-thesis (not alive, non being) creates the converging thesis or synthesis -- Fichte's or the time independent Hegelian dialectic -- Hegel's cat. Schrodinger's cat is based upon Hegel's cat and he stole it from Plato (Socrates). Duality (thesis, anti-thesis) creates or synthesizes reality (non duality) -- the Hegelian dialectic. "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Classical reality is dual to quantum reality synthesizes true reality -- Roger Penrose using the Hegelian dialectic.

[@joedasilva134]

You shared your quest n took us nowhere. These question r beyond our capabilities n yet I would give everything I have to find the answer .

[@jps6972]

The problem is not with finding an answer but with becoming satisfied with the answer.

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

good vid as always sorry to hear this stuff actually keeps you awake at night I have always been interested in these questions since at least my early twenties but have always had more pressing concerns with the remarkable recent advances in AI we may actually know the answers someday if we don't destroy ourselves first and you're young enough to possibly see it so keep your chin up

[@TheDaveeZ]

I have similar thoughts about what means "nothing", I guess when we die we feel nothing and are in the same state as before we were born. So we already had an experience of how "it feels". Why is there something rather than nothing? Maybe it's because we are alive and there is a kind of connection between that fact and the universe around us. Thank you so much for asking the deepest questions Cool Worlds!

[@Gerard1971]

Your guess belongs in the realm of philosophy and religion and not in the realm of science, because suggesting that we are "alive" independent of our bodies and brain suggests a belief in a purpose or intention behind the existence of life, consciousness and the universe, and thus invokes a higher power, without providing any empirical or logical support. Twice in this video (08:14 and 14:55) Segan is quoted explaining that adding "God" to close the gap is an extra complexity that serves no purpose, because we then have to ask "Where did God come from?", which is also an unanswerable question, so if we assert that God always existed, we can also save a step and conclude that the universe exists without explanation.

[@Nitidus]

You can't feel nothing. If you can feel it, it is something and not nothing. When we die, it's simply over. There is nothing to feel anymore.

[@ansalem12]

@@Nitidus It goes further than that. It isn't just that there's nothing to feel *anymore,* but also you will have never felt anything *before* either. Dying erases your entire existence from your own perspective, because it erases your *perspective.* You'll have no knowledge of existing, no experiences of it remain, no memories. It isn't simply over. If you die, in a very real sense you were never alive in the first place.

[@squirlmy]

Well, your answer doesn't "belong" in science either. It's just anti-theist, and while you're certainly welcome to that opinion, you haven't disproven anything or given any evidence the the "anthropological answer" is incorrect. You're just saying it's a more complicated hypothesis, which proves nothing, as CW himself says, Occam's Razor, which is no sort of law or rule. Yes, adding "spirit" or lifeforce is just as complex as adding "God", but that doesn't in any way validate anything. And it's pretty rude, as well. If Occam's gets you off, I'm glad for you. But don't say this is embraced in the video. It's just a preference, a tradition of science, nothing more.

[@Reduardom]

If a tree falls in a Forest but nobody was close to be able to hear the noise Did the tree made any noise? If there where nobody alive, then the universe would not exist. Because no one would be here notice

[@neomateo944]

This has weighed on my mind for decades. I finally decided that there most likely are 'reasons' for the beginning of our universe that makes sense but only for whatever or whoever lays beyond or outside our universe to understand. We are simply too deep inside the structure to have access and far less capable than we can comprehend. Regardless our position the universe is still insanely awesome and infinitely entertaining.

[@jackdiestelhorst8125]

I used to think about this question, but I now get great comfort that this ‘something’ that we are in is miraculous, no matter how it came to be. I decided to enjoy every moment of it, still be curious, but not let the unknowable dampen my wonder and appreciation of the beauty of it all.

[@beefandbarley]

Still curious. Thanks Doc.

[@danmells6519]

I think about this often. Sometimes I laugh at the absurdity of it all. Sometimes it drags me into a dark pit. Mostly I conclude there must always have been something, even if it was the mere possibility of existence. And for as long as we can’t know what that something was or is, we may as well choose to believe something that helps us live well, and as you say, stay curious.

[@rami_7777]

What if causality itself is just a concept that applies only to the universe we know? What if there's something out there that doesn't even have to be "caused" by something? I know it's hard to imagine, because we tend to apply the limited things we're able to perceive/feel/or think of, on everything around us. Same goes with the time dimension, maybe it doesn't apply to everything. Maybe there's something out there that doesn't have that dimension, or in other words, time cannot be applied to that thing. Thank you for the great content you make. Keep up the good work!

[@caralladas76]

I love this answer. We thought up and down were obvious, hence we believed in flat earth. We thought space and time were obvious, but then we learned they are just changing properties of the universe, and no time nor space exist if no universe exists. Maybe there is no causality outside this universe.

[@rami_7777]

@@caralladas76 Exactly. Imagine a stickman in a 2D world. He's not aware neither can he imagine the 3rd dimention. Now imagine 3 stickmen, each sitting inside his house, which is a square on a flat paper. Neither of them can see outside of their house and/or inside other houses without physically getting inside them. Yet someone from our world can look at the paper and see all 3 of them at the same time. If someone would tell the stickmen that they're being watched at the same time from a "place" outside of their houses and even from their entire world, they wouldn't even be able to comprehend that. Their understanding of the world isn't capable of explaining how. So maybe it's the same case in our world or in our understanding of the world. There might be things that we're not aware of and/or are not able of understanding, that have different laws or properties than the world we (think we) know.

[@SpookySkeletonDD]

Your passion for the universe never ceases to do enough

[@owensdaniels6244]

THANKYOU! SIR YOU ARE TRULY BRILLIANT

[@jeremyaks69]

I remember questioning as a kid, what if there was never a world, a universe.. leading to thinking how if there was nothing, nothing could ever be created and if there was nothing, there wouldn't be nothing to even question why there is nothing. It's baffling to think of.

[@jeremyaks69]

@@jamesmills2087 😆

[@rwarren58]

It’s a question that we’ve all wondered. The concept seems too overwhelming so I’ll just be grateful to live in a time where I can wonder at the universe. Thanks Professor. My favorite channel never disappoints.

[@byamboy]

We are so lucky. If you have watched and understood the ideas in this video, you belong to a very small and privileged minority. This is the highest you can probably get on this topic, at least for some time to come! And the topic is the most fundamental of them all...

[@squirlmy]

Interesting, the OP starts with the assumption that all of us have wondered this. And I disagree with the notion that this is a particular time suited to it. The ancient Greeks may not have had the mathematics, and certainly not the physics to hypothesize, but they, and probably many civilizations before could wonder why there is something rather than nothing. I don't see us as a privileged minority in either numbers or time. Surely some quickly dismiss the thought as irrelevant because it may be impossible to answer. But we are constantly posing different ways to ask the question. Some of us can articulate it better than most. But perhaps the ones who dismiss the question quickly are right. 😁

[@byamboy]

@@squirlmy I do agree all of us must have asked themselves this once in their life time. But it is the curiosity needed to go as deep as finding and watching this video and appreciating the effort of the makers that I was referring to. 99,9999% of all people who have ever lived will have lived in times where this kind of questions was the ultimate luxury of philosophers and of the nobles. The sanitary and overall living conditions were too low for them to have had the time to dwell on this and say that's what is keeping them up at night. In that sense, we are an almost infinitely small group of people that, as you said, would be better off "living" and not pondering about this question. I just don't know if I can...

[@hyperduality2838]

Why? is dual to why not! -- Questions are dual to answers. answers imply questions. Something is dual to nothing -- Everything is dual to nothing. Being is dual to non being creates becoming -- Plato's cat. Alive is dual to not alive -- Schrodinger's cat. Thesis (alive, being) is dual to anti-thesis (not alive, non being) creates the converging thesis or synthesis -- Fichte's or the time independent Hegelian dialectic -- Hegel's cat. Schrodinger's cat is based upon Hegel's cat and he stole it from Plato (Socrates). Duality (thesis, anti-thesis) creates or synthesizes reality (non duality) -- the Hegelian dialectic. "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Classical reality is dual to quantum reality synthesizes true reality -- Roger Penrose using the Hegelian dialectic.

[@rwarren58]

@@hyperduality2838 A classic example of a semantically null statement!.

[@YourFavoriteCommie]

It's that bit about there being anything - even empty space - rather than nothing that makes me feel the most panicked and confused. The fact that I cannot picture, cannot comprehend or fathom, the absence of everything, is unbelievably strange and scary.

[@Derek903871]

I enjoy how you use parts of movies or TV shows as graphics to keep the watcher interested. :)

[@scandallassi]

This question haunts me too. Because it's where all other questions in existence ultimately lead to. The answer to this question, should there be one, would basically act as the foundation to the aggregate body of human knowledge resting upon it. The Causa Prima. But not only is it simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating to find a big gaping hole at the bottom of everything we know, it moreover exposes a fundamental gap in human logic and reasoning known to me as the Munchausen Trilemma in epistemology: All lines of reasoning will invariably and inexorably end in one of three dead ends: 1.) Infinite Regress = there is always another why, another cause, all the way down to infinity, 2) The Axiomatic Basis = We simply cut of the string of reasoning at an arbitrary spot and call it a fundamental law, and simply accept it absent of understanding or further inquiry, and 3) Circular Reasoning = Your line of questioning eventually comes full circle and answers itself (this last one imho could be expanded to cover Paradoxes in general, something in the spirit of Buddhist coans). None of these seem very satisfying if you ask me (least of all the axiomatic basis).... This phenomenon viscerally exposes the limitations of the human mind and shows how our brains are not built to understand something so unfathomably large and complex as the universe. Well... at least not yet :) What a miraculous amazing gift this existence is!! See you on the other side

[@redx11x]

Why do people overcomplicate this. The most simple, rational reason is that some all powerful, timeless, spaceless power, created it. Some ultimate cause. You need an ultimate cause of all events, you cannot have an infinite regress. That to me is illogical. An infinite regress leads to non existence in your theory. You cannot have an infinite chain of events as that would mean infinite time, etc.

[@adamlindfors5082]

Read Chris Langans CTMU it offers the only true answer to that question.

[@pimpslapish]

This guy explains my inner dialogue as a little boy in 3 minutes 😂 the causes of all my anxiety’s even as a 25 year old guy to this day

[@Burntheadversary]

This is the best channel I ever found on KZbin period.

[@podunkest]

Wow I was thinking about Ockham's Razor as I was watching this. I almost shat when you brought it up. That's so satisfying when a video addresses something it made you think of.

[@hollywoodbb]

I remember the day I truly realized I was alive and how absurd it was. I was playing Nintendo with my older brother. I had to be around 5-6. And I thought, “I’m alive.” And then pondered on it for awhile. And I closed my eyes and realized that I was IN this world and there was no explanation about why or how I had a “soul.” I asked my older brother if he felt this way and he, too, got introspective and we both sat there for a good few minutes just saying, “I’m alive!” It was bizarre. Scary, but exhilarating. From that day onward, I’ve always wondered what the hell is going on. It keeps me up often today at 28.

[@C.V.Q]

I got extremely existential a few years ago and became really bothered by these questions. But watching science and philosophy videos like this helped put my mind at ease. I think I'm personally learning toward the idea that true nothingness is just a figment of abstract rationalization that humans make. Conceptualizing nothingness seems paradoxical as it cannot be rationalized at all. So something is the only thing that can exist as nothingness is the antithesis of existence. I think the chain of causality is somehow infinite. Either cyclical/paradoxical or just expanding forever in all directions, like a fractal. Maybe the nodes of causality itself are quantum and the chain isn't fully determined beyond our local sector. Who knows...but it's certainly fun to think about. People shouldn't stop being curious, even if pondering answers might not lead anywhere.

[@MasterKoala777]

I read somewhere about a philosopher who posed the question: If we are comfortable with the idea that time moves forward forever, then why shouldn't it also move infinitely backward? Perhaps there's no "initial cause", but rather an infinite string of causes. It still doesn't answer the titular question in this video, but might be a clue.

[@williamstepka4510]

Wonderful video! Astronomy has always been a Time Machine looking at light from a few seconds in our past to millions and billions of years from a very distant past. As a child, almost 60 years ago, I found the Andromeda Galaxy using an old star chart and wondered who/what might be there, when we were not even truly human, as that very light started on it’s travels. We know now it is even more distant than I was told at that time. The best hope is that our instruments continue to evolve, seeing further back in time and gaining more accurate data that reveals how that light began. Then we can ask how that came to be and start again to seek those answers. Perhaps the universe is a layered circle that evolves and amplifies, and with luck, we do so as well…

[@Southwest_923WR]

I also hav3 tried to answer all my questions and thoughts down to lowest common denominater, and literally had to shake myself out of it, and come back to reality at hand! Good to know Im not as weird as I thought. Another excellent brain twister. Keep it up, we may just figure this whole thing out yet!👍🏿🥂

[@noamfinnegan8663]

I'm flourishing in the breathtaking-awe of all that I've touched, loved and saw. I wouldn't know I'm gone and I was only here for the ride. Blame is lame Much love and appreciation from Ireland 🇮🇪💚☘️🦄

[@stuartbrownlee3108]

It's safe to say that when I first became sentient it wasn't long before I encountered this particular conundrum. I think one of the things that makes it so frustrating is that which concerns the brevity of this already utterly unlikely consciousness. More to the point David - I've had two seizures this year already - the first one - well, not too much damage was done. The second one - I've never seen that kind of damage before. Two black eyes, an obvious konk on the forehead and - some rib damage. I just want you to know that I probably won't be around for much longer, so I just want you to know that your work is of great importance to me.

[@MDaDonLegacy]

How can it not be answered? We clearly live in someone's creation. There is no other answer but a simulation, created by a different type of entity we have no knowledge let alone understanding of. Our world as we know it, did not come from nothing, instead it was created by something. The simplest way I could explain this would be to use The Sims video game as a reference in comparison to our real life. You create a family, build a house, go to work, etc. Imagine those characters becoming "Woke", no matter how hard any of those characters try to understand how their world came to existence they would never get past the coding of the software they live in. The characters you created would live in a digital universe while you their creator lived in a biological universe. No matter what the sim character does they cannot possibly connect their digital world to ours, meaning they would never have an answer past coding aka their version of "the big bang". Which in full circle fashion, the Sim characters come to conclusion, they live in a simulation. Maybe one day the jump from our simulation to our creators simulation can be achieved.

[@knowyourrights9793]

Having these thoughts really kinda Suck, Thinking these thoughts and wondering and inevitably being Crushed by an overwhelming Existential Crisis!! *Ignorance* Really is *Bliss!!*