Lawrence Krauss: Our Godless Universe is Precious

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The universe doesn't care about you, and the future is miserable. So begins theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss' guide to optimism. Optimism? You heard us right. We may never find meaning or purpose in the universe, but to assume that our purpose is interlinked with that of the universe is what Krauss calls the height of solipsism. Life is beautiful precisely because it's so temporary, and if anything helps us to be optimistic in a morally neutral universe, it's science. Asking questions and understanding what something is helps us realize the consequences of our actions. Armed with knowledge, we can make decisions for the common good. If that's not hope, what is?

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LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS

Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, and the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing. He is an advocate of scientific skepticism, science education, and the science of morality. Krauss is one of the few living physicists referred to by Scientific American as a "public intellectual", and he is the only physicist to have received awards from all three major U.S. physics societies: the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Institute of Physics.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Lawrence Krauss: I have a friend of mine who's a very famous writer, and I'll leave him nameless for the moment, but he writes very dark novels. And when I first met him I was surprised he was so cheerful and I said, "How can you be so cheerful?" And he looked at me and he said, "I'm a pessimist, but that's no reason to be gloomy." And that's become my own mantra in some sense, and it seems appropriate when you think about the universe.


Because the universe first of all isn't here to make us happy, it isn't here to please us and it doesn't give a damn what happens to us. In the far future of the universe is likely to be miserable as I talked about in my last book, and I point in my new book it could even be more miserable.


So in a purposeless universe that may have a miserable future you may wonder, "Well how can I go about each day?" And the answer is we make our own purpose. We make our own joy. We are here by a cosmic accident as I've tried to show, but it's a remarkable accident that's allowed you and I to be here to talk, us to think and appreciate the beauty and splendor of the universe.


So the fact that the universe itself may have no purpose doesn't affect our purpose, in fact it's the incredible height of solipsism to assume that without us the universe doesn't matter, and that if the universe is purposeless we don't matter. We make our own purpose, and it seems to me life is more precious because it's temporary and accidental, and we should take advantage of that. And we have evolved brains and that allows us to ask questions not just about how the universe works but how we should behave.


Now it's a long philosophical debate about whether you can get ought from is, and maybe you can never get ought from is, and maybe reason is the slave of passion. One thing seems clear to me: that without knowing what is you could never get to ought. Or: To do the ought that you get to is silly. If you don't know the consequences of your actions, which is really what science tells us, then you can't assess how to behave. And so understanding empirical phenomena plays a central role in leading a better life, it seems to me. And it should play a central role in public policy so that we as a society can make sound decisions about how to act in the common good.

[maxmallett]

I think he meant to say "Marionette" instead of "Mannequin" at the end, haha

[Danuril]

“We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”― Carl Sagan. The most beautiful sentence I have ever read. No need to delude myself with grand ideas of eternal bliss. I wish more people would be able to see the beauty of reality. Whatever happens after I die, whether ill be chilling with the great teapot in the sky, or will not exist at all. It is enough to know that the set of atoms which is me has been so damn lucky to have had a consciousness.

[mssmaths]

"Without God, there can never, ever be anything." You're missing one very important aspect - that's what seems true to YOU, as a human. That's what Kauss is always trying to say to people, that the universe doesn't give a flying f. what you think and what you think is sensible. It is what it is. Just because YOU need a god, in order to make sense of everything, doesn't mean there has to be one.

[xerox]

1.55 minutes of excellence, and reality! Thank you Lawrence Krauss :-)

[JackWilsonVideos]

Proud and privileged to have met Lawrence and talked with him for 10 minutes about Christopher Hitchens. Just me, him, and two of his friends, and an unforgettable discussion about the greatest thinker of our time.

[Coldheat]

God doesn't need anything. We need to worship Him. Worship is not a physical exercise; it is a life-long journey, a learning process, an inner struggle to understand the divine attributes and names of Him, how they manifest all around us... We are unable to comprehend His being, but we can learn about Him this way. This is the purpose of life. We are meant (by Him) for an eternal life of beauty, we came from nothingness, to be worthy of that we need to go through this temporary life of "change".

[Veepee]

This was very poetic actualy. Great thank Mr. Krauss :)

[HighLighterlines]

What is so precious about a universe doom to destruction. What is so precious about life and moral if it is all in vain?

[Bayhuntr]

Beautifully said Mr. Krauss! To be so close to an evolved creature, the first of it's kind on this planet, to recognize and perceive without the instincts of it's evolutionary past blocking the view, is unbelievably lucky. It's sad, too many will never experience it, it's a crime those same people will do what they can to prevent the rest of us from sharing it with the rest of the human race. I've always seen us as insignificant, but at the same time rare and special. That's how it should be.

[Gericho]

Krauss version of "A Universe from Nothing" goes like this
1 Nothing is“ a quantum vacuum seething with particles of matter and anti-matter
2. "Empty space is complicated."
3 - "strength of the energy [SIC] field has to be huge"
4 - "Nothing is unstable"
5 - "follows the rules of quantum mechanics"
6 - "all these phenomena imply that under the right conditions not only nothing can become something, but it is required
to.”

" Oxford dictionary defines "nothing" properly as "Not anything!" Having no attributes! *Nothing has
"no space" not "empty space!"*
Nothing has no boiling brew of virtual particles
Nothing has no energy field. Nothing has no instability.
Nothing has no quantum mechanics laws acting on it Nothing has no phenomena, no
right conditions, and no requirements. The Oxford dictionary defines the word
"Equivocation, " as, "The use of ambiguous language to conceal
the truth or to avoid committing oneself."

[marcusmd]

I think it's time for Humans to face reality and start thinking logical, because that's the way the world is. Its not a crafted paradise that got corrupted by man. And I really hope that i get to see that day

[teresarossini]

One thing Krauss seems to miss is the fact the rarity of what we are, the hostility of a Universe which does not bloom with life is actually a major point in the direction of how special we really are and many take that a reason to be believe in a creator as opposed to saying this Universe would be an example of "flawed" creation. So in a big way, Krauss actually boosts the faith of many in God and for that reason I share links to his stuff and my church loves it!

[XTrEaMkILlA]

God is God and whatever he does/says is just and right. We follow whatever he wants us to follow. No questions asked.

[duelvector]

So the future is hopeless therefore have hope?

[kze]

one night i went near the lake nearby where i live. it was a warm summer night and i was all alone. i walked out onto a platform so that i could be as close to the water as possible and i looked as the full moon reflected and illuminated a vertical column on the water. i listened to the waves crash against the rock, and i thought... what a beautiful thing. the fact that we have consciousness and that we get to experience this world, no matter who the originator is or isn't, is amazing.

[RulesOvNature]

Well Said Dr. Krauss. I couldn't have said it better myself

[budrow]

Yes. Almost TOO amazing to have been a simple accident...

[lukasmik]

It's two minutes after midnight but this has already made my day.

[dizzydoom]

And here's mine: treat others as if they are equal.

[atheismfails]

To paraphrase this self-proclaimed nephew of a primate, "Your life is precious because it is insignificant." What nonsense, and what a fool he is. For anyone who says "Atheism is incoherent, " I have no rebuttal. And if they offer Lawrence Krauss as first evidence, I would quickly admit, "You've got me. Checkmate. Game over."