Truth Reconciled

Existence seems to be the most obvious observation in the world, but it is also the most difficult fact to explain. Everything around you, everything you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste, even every thought in your mind, is proof that something exists. But how did this physical universe come into existence? The more you think about it, the more perplexing this mystery becomes.

Why is there something rather than nothing? Why does the universe go through all the trouble of existing? Why isn’t there just nothing? How is it possible? The question of why anything exists at all is known in philosophy as the “fundamental question of metaphysics.” It has also been dubbed the “ultimate question of physics” because every law and entity in the universe must follow from the answer. The so-called “Holy Grail of Physics,” the theory of everything that explains all physical phenomena in the universe, is expected to be revealed if we can just find the answer to the fundamental question.

Many attempts have been made by great thinkers of the past, but all have fallen short of providing a complete explanation for existence. Every supposed explanation requires the previous unexplained existence of some universe-creating beings, mechanisms, or principles. Many claim that God is the explanation for existence. But why did God exist instead of nothing? Others claim that a quantum fluctuation created the universe. But why was there a realm of quantum possibilities following physical laws instead of nothing? These attempts to explain existence are clearly incomplete. They beg the question of why the universe-creating entities existed in the first place.

The ultimate answer to the ultimate question should not assume the prior existence of anything. Existence has to be shown to follow from logic alone, with no assumptions about the nature of the physical universe or its governing laws. Anything short of a purely logical explanation will only beg for additional explanations. Many philosophers have argued that such an explanation is impossible, but a brand new theory claims to have finally achieved this solution.

The complete explanation was recently published in a new book entitled Existence Solved: The Origin of the Universe and the Laws of Physics. A step-by-step summary of the argument is as follows:

1. We require a complete explanation for physical existence.
2. The only way to provide a complete explanation is to ensure that the explanation is tautological.
3. The only way to ensure that the explanation is tautological is to base it upon a circular definition of physical existence.
4. The circular definition forces existence to be indeterminate.
5. The totalitarian principle states that any entity that doesn’t contradict any existing entities must necessarily exist. This principle is shown to be a logical tautology (it is always and objectively true), and thus compels the existence of anything compatible with whatever already exists.
6. The existence of entities, which is currently indeterminate, becomes contingent upon passing the test of compatibility with all other existing entities. This is called “contingent existence.”
7. All possible entities obtain the status of contingent existence. In order to qualify for existence, the contingent entities must pass the test of compatibility with all other contingently existing entities.
8. Many contingent entities contradict one another. These fail the test of compatibility and are eliminated.
9. Randomness emerges as a logically coherent possibility and permits the unbalanced cancellation of opposite entities. The entities remaining after the first cancellation are the primordial substance of the universe.
10. The totalitarian principle requires us to continue testing all possible entities again and again. This becomes an endless, ordered, logical calculation of consistent existence.
11. The calculation of existence exhibits the properties of the fabric of spacetime.
12. Entities that demonstrate stability through the successive steps of time become the energy and matter of the universe.

Each step of the argument is discussed more thoroughly in Existence Solved, and also in our articles on Existence. This new theory checks all the boxes. The existence of the universe is successfully explained from a purely logical foundation. But it doesn’t stop there. Unlike any previous attempted answer to the ultimate question, this answer is validated by demonstrating that all the known laws of physics follow naturally from the origin of existence.

For more information, see https://truthreconciled.com/existence/.

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