# How does anything exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925 "2004-10-29T21:20:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/1 "2004-10-29T21:20:44Z")
How does anything exist? BA ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/2 "2004-10-29T21:26:05Z")
Everything exists because what we call matter is slightly more stable than antimatter, and because the Big Bang was asymmetric with respect to its generation of particles and antiparticles. If it had been perfectly 50/50, only energy would exist. That’s one reason, and probably one of the earliest ones we can ever hope to even speculate reasonably about. ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/3 "2004-10-29T21:28:12Z")
Where did matter/antimatter come from? BA ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/4 "2004-10-29T21:30:45Z")
Nothingness lacks the information it needs to maintain a stable state of not being anything. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/5 "2004-10-29T21:35:47Z")
Maybe it’s because there can’t be absolutely nothing. That would be too precise a state, given the indeterminate nature of even a vacuum, and hence isn’t possible. Since, in the absense of absolute nothing, there’s always a small chance that almost anything can happen, it eventually does. The Big Bang might fit into that category: Highly unlikely, but ultimately inevitable, given random fluctutations of matter and energy fields about a “zero-point”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/6 "2004-10-29T21:38:35Z")
**Squink** , you rock. Can I borrow your _bon mot_ as a tag line? **Loopydude** , good job of expanding **Squink** ’s statement. ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/7 "2004-10-29T21:41:47Z")
Why can’t there be “absolutely nothing”? BA ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/8 "2004-10-29T21:44:08Z")
Or you could run it back the other way and say: Nothing truly exists at all, it’s impossible to prove. You think therefore you are? Sure, but then how do you know that you think? Oh wow man, I have the munchies something fierce… ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/9 "2004-10-29T21:46:47Z")
No, “nothing exists at all” is obviously a mute point. BA ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/10 "2004-10-29T21:48:16Z")
“Mute”??? Damn thee Skyy vodka. Moot, obviously. BA ---
**Author:** ![Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Planet_of_the_Shapes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/11 "2004-10-29T21:49:53Z")
Because quantum physics tells us that for certain pairs of variables there must exist a minimum amount of uncertainty. One of these pairs is energy and time. This means that empty space can ‘borrow’ energy from this uncertainty to create say an electron anti-electron pair, as long as this pair exists for a short enough amount of time. Even totally empty vacuum is seething with very short lived particles, all existing because of this uncertainty. Some people speculate that this is all the big bang is - a quantum fluctuation. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/12 "2004-10-29T21:50:52Z")
> [@Blackacre](#): > > Why can’t there be “absolutely nothing”? > BA There can - there just _isn’t_, right now. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/13 "2004-10-29T21:53:08Z")
Has anyone seen my cat? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/14 "2004-10-29T21:54:06Z")
> [@Blackacre](#): > > No, “nothing exists at all” is obviously a mute point. > > BA It’s “moot” BTW. > [@](#): > > Where did matter/antimatter come from? The matter and antimatter in this Universe came from the Big Bang, which initially consisted of energy only due to the tremendous heat. As this universe cooled, matter and antimatter condensed out. (The residual heat, which is now about two degrees F, is the background radiation in the universe.) I’m sure there are plenty of references on the Web that can give you all the info you need on this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/15 "2004-10-29T21:55:18Z")
Elegant answer, if it weren’t begging the question. How do “energy” and “time” exist? BA ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/16 "2004-10-29T21:57:41Z")
See my earlier corection barbitu8? BA ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/17 "2004-10-29T21:59:39Z")
I meant “correction.” Damn thee again Skyy vodka! BA ---
**Author:** ![Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Planet_of_the_Shapes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/18 "2004-10-29T22:06:53Z")
You’re basically asking - why are the laws of physics as they are? Noone knows. One interesting idea i did read about once though is that maybe our universe is the result of evolutionary forces. The idea is that each black hole creates a new big bang, and thus another universe. If you also assume that the laws of physics can change gradually thoughout each generation of universes then universes with laws of physics that lead to the creation of black holes are selected for. Total speculation, but interesting nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/19 "2004-10-29T22:08:45Z")
Aye, very interesting. But where do “Black Holes” come from? BA ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925/20 "2004-10-29T22:47:59Z")
My nephew used to really irritate his parents by repeatedly asking “But why?” to every statement they made: “It’s time for you to go to bed now.” “But why?” “Because it’s 9 o’clock, and that’s your bedtime.” “But why?” "Because otherwise you will be real tired in the morning.’ “But why?” “Because you need to sleep for several hours each night.” “But why?” (repeat forever, or until parents patience breaks down.) But he outgrew this around age 3 or 4. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-anything-exist/271925.md?page=2)