Why Does Anything Exist?

Have you ever asked yourself, why is there space and time and matter and energy at all? Why is there a universe? Why is there something instead of nothing? This is an old question that lots of people have pondered. There could have been nothing. It might have been easier. Instead there is something. The universe exists. We have an idea of the history of the universe and of the physical laws that describe how it works and this should give us a clue about how and why the cosmos exists. Some physicists believe our entire cosmos may have sprung out of nothing at all. While this may sound crazy to us, the theory is completely normal in quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that deals with very small things like atoms and even tinier particles. The state of the universe in quantum mechanics isn't simply a particular configuration of space-time and matter. The quantum state is a superposition of many different possibilities. Quantum mechanics suggests that nothing is inherently unstable, that it's possible for little bubbles of space-time, something, to form spontaneously out of nothing, and that if a thing is not forbidden by the laws of quantum physics, it is guaranteed to happen. Quantum mechanics also tells us that there is no such thing as empty space. It suggests that even the most perfect vacuum is actually filled by a roiling cloud of particles and antiparticles which pop up into existence and almost instantaneously fade back into nothingness. These so-called virtual particles don't last long enough to be observed directly, but we know they exist by their effects. If these particles can come into existence without a cause in the quantum realm, then the universe as well might have come into being from nothing. Nothing is truly a crazy concept. You would think the vacuum of space is empty, but space is an imperfect vacuum. Space is something. To say our universe emerged from such a vacuum is not the same as saying it came from nothing. The quantum vacuum has properties and needs an explanation of where it came from. It will not suffice to say that the vacuum has simply existed forever, because this would not explain why our universe is a finite age and isn't as old as the vacuum from which it came. Specifying anything at all, including the truth conditions for our sense of nothingness, requires information. Physics tells us that information is fundamental. It is physical. Information cannot be created or destroyed. But then we ask, where did the information come from in the first place? Perhaps everything exists because of fluctuations in quantum particles, or because an initial zero separated itself into plus one and minus one, forming matter and antimatter. The Standard Model says that in the Big Bang, matter that we are made of, and something called antimatter, should have been created in equal measure. It is believed that every particle has an antimatter companion that is virtually identical to itself, but with the opposite charge. These two famously don't get along, annihilating one another in a flash of light whenever they come within touching distance. And yet, here we are. Somehow, matter won. Why the universe we see today is made entirely out of matter is one of the greatest mysteries of modern physics. Had there ever been an equal amount of antimatter, everything in the universe would have been annihilated. One possibility is that the antimatter is just hiding. Some of it somehow escaped the death match, taking refuge in little safe spots that eventually became distant regions as the cosmos cooled and expanded. However, maybe existence has always existed in one form or another, even though we can't rule out the possibility that at some point it will stop existing. But yet again, that raises other questions, like how can there meaningfully be a time when existence ceases? Where would all the stuff go? It seems the best thing is to conclude that there has to be something, and that it is eternal. But who are we to conclude anything? Long story short, at the moment no one can grasp why anything exists at all, or why there is more matter than antimatter. But it's up to us as a species to cultivate the intellectual maturity to accept that some questions don't have the kinds of answers that are designed to make us feel satisfied. A theory that explains everything explains nothing. you