Curious amateur

[Terje Rosenlund]

How did you find PF?

Recommended by ChatGPT

I have been speculating about the universe and its origins since before I read Stephen Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" in 1988.

Questions and answers to this must exist before it is meaningful to ask other existential questions!

 

[phinds]

Welcome to the forum.

Questions and answers to this must exist before it is meaningful to ask other existential questions!

I strongly disagree. TONS and TONS of meaningful questions can be, and have been, asked that have nothing to do with the origin of the universe. The most simple one, of course, is why/how does life exist.

 

[Terje Rosenlund]

Welcome to the forum.


I strongly disagree. TONS and TONS of meaningful questions can be, and have been, asked that have nothing to do with the origin of the universe. The most simple one, of course, is why/how does life exist.

My statement is too general.

Individuals can find meaning in many things, including asking questions we cannot answer (e.g. 'why' does life exist).

What is scientifically meaningless are claims about 'why' something exists without knowing 'why' anything exist to ask the question about. 'why' in the question 'why/how does life exist' is scientifically meaningless in the sense that we cannot know anything about it, while 'how' is meaningful since it can be answered in many ways.

Even if we one day fully understand 'how' the universe came into being, we will probably still not understand 'why'.

Perhaps not even where the E (in Einstein's E=mc²) the universe is made of came from, but we will be one step closer to the answer.

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

How did you find PF?: Recommended by ChatGPT

I have been speculating about the universe and its origins since before I read Stephen Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" in 1988.

Please keep in mind that we do not allow personal speculation (or philosophy) here at PF. You can find that in the PF rules under INFO at the top of the page.

Since this thread is meant only for a brief introduction, it is now closed.