Rebecca Newberger Goldstein - Why Is There Anything At All?

Why is there a world, a cosmos, something, anything instead of absolutely nothing at all? If nothing existed, there would be, well, ‘nothing’ to explain. To have anything existing demands some kind of explanation. Of all the big questions, this is the biggest. Why anything? Why not nothing? What can we learn from the absence of nothing?

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is an American novelist and Professor of Philosophy.

Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[IoDavide]

The honest video:
00:01: "why there is anything?"
00:02: " we don't know. Thanks all, bye."
The end.

[FishHeadSalad]

I have a question for Rebecca. Why is there anything at all? Never got an answer here.

[rationalsceptic]

"Why" questions are for metaphysical Theologians and Philosophers..", How" is for Science!

[Tom_Quixote]

If we knew the answer, would we understand it? If we understood it, would we accept it?

[thedudegrowsfood]

Because we need a place to stack the turtles.

[jonstewart]

I could listen to Rebecca talking about philosophy all day, she's brilliant and sensible and has a delightful way of expressing her ideas.

[dondattaford]

Nothing has allowed all this to exist we literally take nothing for granted when nothing has been around just as long

[JabberWkie]

I 100% agree with Dr. Kuhn on this one. Too many times, intellectuals will give unsatisfactory answers to this question and imply that there is no explanation, that things “just are”. It drives me crazy. I would rather someone speculate while also being honest that we do not really know. “Why is there something rather than nothing” deserves deep contemplation and discussion.
To me, this was one of the more refreshing conversations I’ve seen on Closer to Truth about this topic.

[bretnetherton]

Awareness is known by awareness alone.

[thomasbruner]

Hard to believe that one word, (nothing), makes everyone's mind go completely

[matthewweflen]

She's terrific. A clear speaking philosopher, which is not surprising given her affinity for the Greeks.

[itsjusttoolate]

The year 2023 is the great skull and bones/freemasons number 322, this is the year of the big one, there are things coming that humanity can't even fathom.

[ejw]

This is why you do what you do. Thanks!

[fancee_shmancee]

This is the most profound question we can ask, and yet, I think we'll never be able to comprehend the rules and logic that underly the answer. And that's wonderful.

[auditoryproductions]

Smuggled into this question is the assumption that "Nothing" is more natural or probable than something. If Something is more probably than Nothing, then that changes the question to Why WOULDN'T There Be Anything At All? For some reason people act like it's a burden to explain Why Something opposed to Nothing but don't feel a burden to explain why Eternal Nothing opposed to Frequent Somethings.

[danielalexander]

She never defined "nothing", which is the complete absence of MatterEnergy, SpaceTime, and by extension quantum fields. The reason these exist is because they were created by a nonphysical consciousness so that we should love Him.

[robertdavenport]

'Something' is not the opposite of 'nothing'. 'Something', or 'everything', is never replete .
Rob Davenport

[DonBurton]

I love this series and the scientists and researchers interviewed. But so often guests will imply that to ask these questions that you ask in this episode, is to be naive, misguided. They are so rooted in what we know rather than valuing, through philosophical discussion, the immensity of what we don’t know. I always find that off putting, especially since the guests steeped in the science have so much to add to the discussion. But THIS guest was refreshing, necessary, helpful! Thanks for the breadth of experiences among guests that you are bringing to this series!

[Promatheos]

I’ve chosen to believe that it’s a brute fact that existence itself/ultimate reality had no beginning and has no end. It transcends causality but still must be a brute fact that it’s not nothingness. It just always was.

[colinthomasson]

if there was nothing, it would have to be in relation to something, nothing dosen't make sense, until there's something, then nothing is the difference between everything that is something, and what would remain if there wasn't anything, never has been and never could, that's what nothing is, its impossible if there's something