Why is there anything? (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Monday, December 26, 2011, 18:19 (4694 days ago) @ dhw

MATT: The real question is thus, in my mind, not "Why is there something," but "Why isn't there nothing?"

I don’t see any difference between the two questions, since they both imply that there OUGHT to be nothing...

The difference is in the rabbit hole it sends you down:

"Why is there anything?"

It sends you into the world of the present, the world of now: Investigating every blade of grass, you stumble on every step. You contemplate the sun... your navel... you try to look at everything that is comprehensible and are arrogant enough to think that this--material stuff has any real meaning. It keeps your mind on things you can understand, and tricks most of us into thinking we have found "reality."

"Why isn't there nothing?"

Forces you to face the dark reality: On the other side of *here* lies the abyss. Asking this question faces you with your own mortality but in a different light:

"What did you look like before your mother was born?" This old Zen koan directly assaults the concept of existence. How do you contemplate nothing?

"Why is there anything?" puts your mind on objects--but its much harder to think about nothing. Hence why I think its converse is a question that holds much more power.

In a theological sense, thinking about nothing forces you to consider your place in a universe that suddenly seems more special. It forces you to consider that you too, could be nothing and in fact, it was much more likely that you should have been nothing.

That website I posted has made me more willing than ever in life to agree with the assertion that there must be something absolutely eternal about our universe. I'm with you, that the intelligent part seems almost absurd. But I think we align closely on this point.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"