The Curious Case of Existence: Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?

Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing? Exploring Reality, Creation, Multiverse, God, and “Nothing”

Why does anything exist? What was there from the very beginning? Total emptiness? Or did something exist out of necessity for all eternity? Could there have been a pivotal moment when “nothing” evolved into “something”? Why not complete emptiness? Is reality eternal? If not, would it at some point surrender itself to eternal absence? Is total emptiness even possible? If reality is brought into existence, does it require an external driver to initiate its being? Is its creation natural or supernatural? What’s the purpose behind reality? Does it just exist for no reason? What lies at the very core of existence? What’s behind the genesis of it all? Is our universe just one fragment of reality, or is it everything that exists? What triggered the creation of our universe? Was it a random process? Is it an effect, a product of something more fundamental? What’s the mechanism behind a universe generator? What does the realm that precedes our universe even look like? Why did the sequence of events that led to the current state of the universe occurred, and why this specific sequence was chosen over any other possibility? Reality could have been buried deep within eternal non-existence. Yet, against all odds, reality prevails… Why existence?

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:44 Where did the universe come from?
14:33 Chaotic eternal inflation creates a diverse & fractal multiverse
20:38 Why the universe is suitable for us?
25:32 Spontaneous creation out of nothing
33:00 A universe out of nothing with 0 energy
37:41 The ultimate mathematical multiverse
45:06 The supreme divine creator
52:30 Reality creating itself
59:45 Further analysis
01:22:07 End credits

Papers:
Calling for Explanation: The Case of the Thermodynamic Past State - Baras, Dan & Shenker, Orly R.
Why is there a universe at all, rather than just nothing? - Adolf Grünbaum
Stop Asking Why There’s Anything - Stephen Maitzen
Explaining Existence - Chris Mortensen
On Explaining Everything - Diana Taschetto
Why Is There Something, Rather Than Nothing? - Sean M. Carroll
Spontaneous creation of the universe from nothing - Dongshan He, Dongfeng Gao, and Qing-yu Cai
The Principle of Mediocrity - Alexander Vilenkin
Many worlds in one - Jaume Garriga, Alexander Vilenkin
Eternal inflation and its implications - Alan H. Guth
Quantum Fluctuations in Cosmology and How They Lead to a Multiverse - Alan H. Guth
A brief history of the multiverse - Andrei Linde
Inflation, Quantum Cosmology and the Anthropic Principle - Andrei Linde
Inflationary Cosmology - Andrei Linde
Eternal inflation, bubble collisions, and the persistence of memory - Jaume Garriga, Alan H. Guth, Alexander Vilenkin
The Mathematical Universe - Max Tegmark
Is "the theory of everything'' merely the ultimate ensemble theory? - Max Tegmark
Shut up and calculate - Max Tegmark
Multiverses and Cosmology: Philosophical Issues - W. R. Stoeger, G. F. R. Ellis, U. Kirchner
Can the Universe Create Itself? - J. Richard Gott, III, Li-Xin Li

Books:
The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Physics
The Mystery of Existence: Why Is There Anything at All? - Robert Lawrence Kuhn, John A. Leslie
Many Worlds in One: The Search for Other Universes - Andrei Linde

PHIL HALPER (AKA SkyDivePhil) interviews:
Before the Big Bang 4 (Alan Guth interview): Eternal Inflation & The Multiverse
Before the Big Bang 6 (Richard Gott interview): Can the Universe Create Itself?
Before the Big Bang 9 (Alex Vilenkin interview): A Multiverse from "Nothing"

Music licensed from Lickd:
Tattered Flag by Lorn, License ID: 8R06dXEYglQ

[rahulraja]

Its the second best videos i have watched so far on you tube about universe after melody sheep time lapse video.

[Percyripped]

This has always been the biggest mind fux for me. Thinking about it makes me feel a strange emotion. The fact that anything exists is the craziest concept imaginable.

[SuitedPup]

Fascinating. This and “why am I me rather than someone else” have been my two biggest questions since I can remember.

[jacobsilva]

I’ve watched countless videos on this subject and to get an hourlong video that never once loses focus but also does not get overly complex is a gift. Succinct logic and approachable analogies this will be the video I send to people to introduce them to the question that follows me every minute of every day. Thank you for giving me the gift of peace and easy to follow questions. A masterpiece that makes the complex seem understandable.

[donniestone]

As a thinking adult who takes the time to ponder the complexities of life, existence, and "why, " this is by far the most comprehensive video on the topic. It's not just one thing - it is literally all things, and it blows my mind that there are people like you that have obviously taken the time and spent the energy to on some level try to puzzle it out. Thank you...I watched this video today starting at 9 this morning, and paused it here and there to think about it all, and just now finished this video at 2:30. I am going to be in a state of thought for days...thanks again brother!!!

[TerrieJohnson]

At eight years of age, I sat alone on a street curb and looked at the sky and asked this question. I'm 61 today
We didn't even have common books on the topic, no Internet. Just a lonely child.

[fratercontenduntocculta]

I still think it’s wild that huge quantities of rock are floating in a huge expanse of empty space.

[ropace]

We didn’t evolve to know, we were designed to learn…
The answer to existence isn’t meant to be explainable. The answer lies in the experience.

[KingBritish]

The YouTube algorithm needs to be kind to this video. Excellent stuff.

[bluegtturbo]

The crazy thing is that nobody can imagine nothing. We can imagine empty space, but not no space.

[rossgregor]

It's amazing that we are created from the cosmos and have the level of intelligence to recognise and explore this. We certainly have ben given the Box Seat. Really well done.

[Roasterville]

Can I just say this is genuinely the most interesting video I have ever watched

[GerardSharkey]

Just amazing. What a sensational video. Think you hit the mark with this one. So many things I've pondered on in my own daydreams touched on in this. One of the greatest docs on youtube, ever.

[alexanderhellman]

The quality of (some) YouTube videos has far surpassed the old fashioned medias like television. It's amazing what level of quality and insight we can stumble upon while surfing oYT, and thanks to the algoritm of recommendations, I was fortunate enough to find this utter gem. Great job on this video, keep it up!

[Random-uwxe]

To everyone watching, remember these two things:
• impossible to know or to measure ≠ without a cause
• we don't even know what we don't know

[cynk]

I remember when it was around my 3rd birthday. I had this profound feeling and had to climb out of my crib. I was afraid of being caught, but something was drawing me outside. I still remember what a beautiful clear day it was and felt a beckoning to look up and out to space. It was like an epiphany of momentarily realizing infinity and nothingness at the same time. I also remember feeling that there was no sound and it was if I was the only person alive, yet I was a part of everything that ever existed! I think that's why I have a fascination with Buddhism, which science is starting to prove that there is no self!

[MrHuNTeR_exe]

Bro I'm like 5 minutes into your video and it's really good. Watched tonnes of these over the years. So well produced. No cap. Subbing.

[FreeAmericaEver]

Thank you for not over complicating a subject that is intensely complicated. You have a gift of a soothing voice, and an excellent understanding of the inner workings of our universe, and all the many bodies in it. Love this !

[thevikingwarrior]

When you have autism, and in society you find that the social rules are so confusing.... Parents that are supposed to stand by you with loyalty instead will assault you, you find that you are not allowed to seek greatness for fear of being accused of being egotistical, you are expected to follow everyone else's lead and never be a leader yourself, you can learn all you like but you are not listened to and able to be a teacher, you are abused by the very people that are are commisioned to care for you and the list goes on and on and on.... You will find yourself looking at the sky at night, and all of the stars in the sky; asking deep questions about why all this is happen with the hope of reaching the holy grail of ending all of these problems decribed above (the time of which seem immeasurably further away than you can comprehend); and you ask question like "Why am I here?", "Where will I go when I die?", "Why do all these things happen?", "Who am I?" and "What does it all mean?" and you will spend your whole life trying to figure it all out. Whenever you ask a question, such as "Why your own parents don't stand by you and instead hit you", and you get the answer, it just raises another question about why the answer is the way that it is (because the answer doesn't satisfy your sense of understanding and feels like it doesn't make sense). Questions that are answered, raise more questions, which in turn raise further questions, and those questions raise more questions, and so on and so forth; like layers of an inion that just go on and on and on... It is like being in 'Alice in Wonderland!' ...but a very Hellish version of it.

[nathanforrest]

Awesome music. Sets the mood. But the answer is simply if there was nothing you would still complain.