Alternatively, it is the recognition that Nothing and Everything are
mathematically the same object (This is a little more subtle that
Pearce's "summing to zero", but it is essentially the same
argument). Now either Nothing exists, or something exists. Since Nothing and
Everything exhaust the possibilities, and they are identical, there is
no question left to answer.
To get something from Everything (equivalently nothing), one invokes
the symmtry breaking operation of observation.
I find this perfectly satisfying.
On Wed, May 18, 2005 at 12:09:23PM -0400, Stephen Paul King wrote:
> Dear Norman,
>
> Existence, itself, can not be said to require an explanation for such
> would be a requirement that there is a necessitate prior to which Existence
> is dependent upon. Pearce's idea is not new and we have it from many
> thinkers that the totality of the multiverse must sum to zero, that is the
> essence of symmetry. It is the actuality of the content of our individual
> experiences (including all of the asymmetries) that we have to justify.
>
> Stephen
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Norman Samish" <ncsamish.domain.name.hidden>
> To: <everything-list.domain.name.hidden>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 10:15 AM
> Subject: WHY DOES ANYTHING EXIST
>
>
> >Quentin Anciaux,
> >
> >Thanks for the explanation. Unlike much that is said here, I am able to
> >understand what you mean. But it's not satisfying, and the core mystery
> >remains. Even if Pearce is correct and everything in the multiverse
> >self-cancels and adds up to zero, so what? That is not an explanation of
> >existence.
> >
> >Obviously, we don't know THE answer - do you (or anybody) think there CAN
> >be
> >an answer that does not require supernatural intervention? What might it
> >be?
> >
> >My wife says the answer is "Because."
> >
--
*PS: A number of people ask me about the attachment to my email, which
is of type "application/pgp-signature". Don't worry, it is not a
virus. It is an electronic signature, that may be used to verify this
email came from me if you have PGP or GPG installed. Otherwise, you
may safely ignore this attachment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 8308 3119 (mobile)
Mathematics 0425 253119 (")
UNSW SYDNEY 2052 R.Standish.domain.name.hidden
Australia http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
International prefix +612, Interstate prefix 02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- application/pgp-signature attachment: stored
Received on Thu May 19 2005 - 00:17:41 PDT