Why is there something rather than nothing?
And before you answer "God did it," consider Carl Sagan's reply "then how did God come about?"
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- 7$\begingroup$ Way too off-topic. If there were nothing you woundn't ask (I is much more profound that it may seem). $\endgroup$Piotr Migdal– Piotr Migdal2010-11-16 13:56:39 +00:00Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 13:56
- 2$\begingroup$ Because. [ ](emp.ty) $\endgroup$Tobias Kienzler– Tobias Kienzler2010-11-16 14:01:51 +00:00Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 14:01
- 1$\begingroup$ This question should be closed... $\endgroup$Cedric H.– Cedric H.2010-11-16 14:15:25 +00:00Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 14:15
- $\begingroup$ Not a physics question, and I'd say it's a bad philosophy question. But then, I'm biased towards analytic philosophy. $\endgroup$Raskolnikov– Raskolnikov2010-11-16 14:15:42 +00:00Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 14:15
- $\begingroup$ Sydney Coleman and others published on this question, considering it really as the subquestion referring to why the apparent matter/antimatter asymmetry, which of course is now the subject of active experimentation. Furthermore a subquestion could refer to the origin of inflation, assuming that it occurred. I vote to edit the question and reopen. $\endgroup$sigoldberg1– sigoldberg12010-11-16 19:57:32 +00:00Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 19:57
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1 Answer
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3 The question is unanswerable. If I tell you "because P", then you can simply ask what caused P.
- $\begingroup$ This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post. $\endgroup$Manishearth– Manishearth2012-12-02 02:06:51 +00:00Commented Dec 2, 2012 at 2:06
- 1$\begingroup$ @Manishearth: I actually think that this is as good an answer as can be provided to this question. Any scientific explanation will have to rely on some general laws, and then the question would indeed become "but why do these laws hold?". $\endgroup$Yvan Velenik– Yvan Velenik2013-01-19 09:47:43 +00:00Commented Jan 19, 2013 at 9:47
- $\begingroup$ @YvanVelenik: True. This is why the question was closed, it really can't be answered properly via physics. $\endgroup$Manishearth– Manishearth2013-01-19 09:49:50 +00:00Commented Jan 19, 2013 at 9:49