@@arthurwieczorek4894great assertion can’t wait till you get an argument or any scientific evidence for that claim other than “the brain reflects the mind therefore the brain is the mind”
so if you watch enough of these terrific shows, you may conclude as i have that among all these brilliant philosophers and scientists, the best and brightest of them all is the guy who's asking the questions.
That's really all this show is about. He doesn't give you hard facts just highlights different theories and thoughts. Closer to the Truth not Here is the Truth.
Great segment, engineer why and how the truck works , driver hopes it works, Robert articulates excellent questions, guests often answer eloquently, mentally I absorb the conversation , myself I couldn’t verbalize like the guests , I’m a big fan of “Closer to Truth “ 🤔👌
The question of why the universe exists and what its purpose is, may forever be within the sphere of philosophy and speculation, therefore subjective; but this video made me realise that in the process of asking the question and looking for answers, we can discover profound ways and perspectives to study the universe and come up with visions to progress as a species, advance and evolve further. If nothing else, "it is a humbling experience", to paraphrase Carl Sagan and maybe for this reason alone, a worthwhile cause.
If you will forgive me, "why the universe exists" will bear any number of different interpretations which could embrace causes reasons and motives, none of which could conceivably be attached to non-experiencing phenomena or things or collections of things. You will not get very far with the question "why does the universe exist" unless you set out fairly clearly and accurately precisely what you seek to convey or mean when you use the words "the universe, and unless you can do that the question is otiose futile or pointless.
What about the Billions of people who live in poverty or as refugees or in the middle of war, etc...? What is their purpose? Or what is the purpose for their suffering? I have trouble finding purpose because I don't just consider my privileged position in life.
Is God to do everything? Then what's our purpose? Maybe we human beings should do the caring on his behalf. The evidence points to consciousness being fundamental and that alone is evidence for God's existence or at the very least the Universe is itself intelligent. Those that disagree with evidence probably lacks the capacity to understand albeit no fault of theirs; some genetic mental errency.
That's why the question itself is misguided. Things don't have meaning or purpose in and of themselves. It is a relational concept predicated on consciousness. Life is literally the conduit and fundamental constituent for all meaning.
@@Ndo01 I agree. But we must not ignore the fact that we live in a closed system. Consciousness isn't some alien phenomenon but that which comes from the unknown just like the other laws. It is the system itself that is conscious and intelligent that manifests itself as human beings among all the other elements and laws.
Simon Sozzi Check out Advaita Vedanta it has a better answer. Search does god allow suffering Sarvapriyananda. Vedanta explains that this entire universe has risen in consciousness and depends on consciousness for its existence. It has no reality of its own. It appears like a dream. It even goes on to say that no one was born and no one ever dies. Look up sarvapriyananda. He teaches from the wisdom teachings of the Upanishads and other sages like Adi Shankacharya
I like to look at it this way, "life" gives the universe a purpose a reason and a meaning. and, vegetation is life. even if there was only vegetation throughout the universe the universe would still have a purpose a reason and a meaning. life is life, it gives purpose, reason and a meaning.
@Alpha Centauri as for what I said, it is just how I feel about it. like you and all I very well may be wrong, and it does not matter to existence. and I know and understand and except that. but I just like to look at it that way, I am part Native America, I believe and FEEL, yes feel that all things inside the universe are connected, yes I feel the universe is alive.. again, just like all humans, I very well may be wrong.. ""In what way? For example, purpose defined is the the reason something is done, or what something is created for"" if a plant makes a seed, and the seed grows, then the mother plant has a purpose. then with that we should believe the universe is alive. as I do believe that!
you are going back before the elements and the Big Bang. if there is or was a creator of the elements and the universe or a creator of the fabric of reality. then everything does have a purpose and a meaning. at the very least in the creator's mind there is a purpose and a meaning. if the elements and the universe are truly just a true accident then the universe does not have a purpose or meaning. yet it does have a reason for being here. and that reason is that the correct elements mixed together and blew up and made a Big Bang. if there is no purpose or meaning for a "true" accident, then there is only a reason for a 'true" accident. unless the universe is alive.
@Alpha Centauri , I understand that, it's very much the same as saying there is a god. again, I was only saying how I look at it. but as for truth, only a mind can produce purpose and meaning. and there is proof that reality is tuned to produce life. and life gives reality purpose and meaning. well as I see it.
The answer is the question, the question is the answer. If there was no reason there would be no question, if there was no question there would be no reason.
It's rather satisfying to find that all these very clever people struggle with the same basic concepts as I do myself. What was also rather satisfying was that I actually understood this one, whereas more typically I watch and listen in awe but do not fully comprehend. Perhaps it's rather arrogant of us to assume that there must be meaning for our existence, perhaps we should accept that our existence is purely a byproduct of the Big Bang, thereby eliminating the need for humanity to have any greater significance than that.
If you will forgive me, if they are "basic" concepts, wherein lies the struggle? Do you struggle with bread or water or air? - They too are basic concepts of a not? Your problem may be that you have not the faintest idea what you mean by "the cosmos". As it happens the word cosmos is simply an old Greek cognate or synonym for universe and the truth of the matter is you have not the faintest idea what you mean by the universe either is it not? My left pocket now bets my right pockets that you are about to demonstrate that you have not the faintest idea what you mean by either the universe or cosmos and are about to demonstrate that by signally failing to set out what you mean by either the universe or cosmos without reference to cognates and synonyms or other forms of psychological algebra.
I really like how Robert actually listens to the people he's interviewing. He's not dismissing them outright or arguing. He has a real discussion... Him and Joe Rogan haha
It's a fine example of the blind leading the blind or those is no idea asking others with no idea,moreover they are asking questions which cannot be answered,which is rather like asking where'is the where the where? Why might it cross anybody's mind that (whatever they mean by) the cosmos, might have a reason although what the meaning of reason seems to be left hanging in the air. It is a classic example of projection or assuming that something that is not you has your characteristics.
@@vhawk1951kl haha I actually stopped watching since I came to the same conclusion. I gained nothing from watching. It always ends "well that could be true.. or not. There's no way to really know".
@@SpittinSquirell Hail or health to you my brother. A ready wit is like a razorblade and it cannot cut nothing or simply fluff and the makers of the video have simply demonstrated the simple truth that if you cannot mumbo you might as well jumbo
One purpose of the universe seems to be evolution thru trial and error. We see this throughout nature. The universe is evolving towards super intelligence or the creation of a God in our current understanding. This channel is amazing.
I would suggest that a vast array of different possibilities of living experiences is the purpose of the cosmos. To explore those possibilities, to live within them, to know what it is to be them. Naturally this assumes that materialism is incorrect...but I have no difficulty assuming that.
@@patmoran5339 I don't know about people's current thinking in general, as I don't go by such trends. I know that the only thing I can say about myself with any certainty is that I embody the experience that is consciousness.
If asking futile and answerless question is is being well-dressed or smart, then I think you will find there are good many well-dressed or smart beings on this planet.
First this is a great channel discussing important topics. Thanks Robert. Cosmos does not have intrinsic reason (also note the distinction between reason and cause - which are sometimes used interchangeably), but now that it exists and we are here, we have to find the purpose in our life and do good. The question can be asked at different levels and get different answers and it is perfectly OK. To insist that the answer has to be same at each level is not the correct approach IMO. I sometimes wonder if Robert is intentionally trying to confound the question - so that he can say see scientists are saying that there is no reason for the universe and thus by extension they are saying there is no meaning to life - with negative connotation that scientists don't find meaning and purpose in our existence. Not so fast. Many scientists will not mix those questions. Most scientists in the video said the same thing i.e. we have to find our own meaning and purpose, but Robert seems to ignore it. Of course, we as humans have to find and we do find meaning and purpose in our social and emotional life. The notion of meanings and purpose is different at different levels. For example, can we ask if a water is wet or not? can we ask if a single water molecule is wet or not? And can we insist that the answer is same for both? Of course not. Of course large collection of water molecules is wet. No one will call a single water molecule wet. Also the meaning of the words - reason, meaning and purpose can be different and we do actually know that it can be different. For example why does water flow downhill - the reason (used here in the sense of "cause") is gravity. This reason is qualitatively different than the reason (used in the sense of effect) why a person is happy when they get a salary increase. It is true that we can cross these boundaries if we keep asking the question - "but why is that?" (like a kid), but the qualitative meaning of the words like reason, purpose and meaning will have to be adjusted as we cross those boundaries. To require that the universe should have a reason so that we can have meaning and purpose in human life is similar to requiring a god to be a moral person. We all know that we can be moral without need for god. Conversely, some people can be immoral with god. Many people that have been put in jail for immoral behavior, believe in god. Crusades, 9/11. As Hitch would have said, to have a need for external thing to give us meaning is not a mature stance to take. It is infantile. So in all these discussions we should start with definitions.
So good old atheistic nihilism is the result. Pretend it isn't true, but if there isn't any meaning then nihilism and total selfishness. Seems to have greatly affected our selfish society.
@@MountainFisher Looks like you did not read my comments fully. I never said anything about 'nihilism'. Please do not put up a strawman and shoot it down.
@@SandipChitale So you believe life has meaning? I ask because it seemed that you're making your own meaning, which is the same as what I said, pretending. I do not see that you believe life has meaning in your comments, as a matter of fact you said that if one has to find meaning external to oneself it is infantile. Sorry, but finding meaning in your own self is meaningless to everyone else unless there is an external foci that gives all human life meaning. I am not a fan of modern ethics nor trying to find true meaning within a meaningless worldview that makes humankind no different than animals. Call me infantile, but if there isn't something outside ourselves that gives meaning to even the lowest begging leper then it's all just pretend and nihilism IS the real meaning.
@@MountainFisher I said "... we have to find the purpose in our life and DO GOOD." and "we as humans have to find and we DO find meaning and purpose in our social and emotional life.". "We" refers to not self but the humanity as a whole, and of course we as individuals have to do our part. And most of the good people in the society do IN FACT DO that. And I am sure, at least many of them do GOOD, NOT because there is something external that gives their own life (and lives of the people they care about) meaning and purpose. And conversely, if there was nothing external they would not do GOOD and may do BAD. If that is what you think, then my friend you see things differently. I am more optimistic about humanity. I am pretty sure that is not nihilistic. You seem to be quite pessimistic about humanity. You also ignored my examples of people in jail (for example) or 9/11 etc. Statistically it is evident that there are a lot of people in jail that believe in called external mechanisms like god that give their lives meaning and yet they committed immoral acts. The humans differ from animals because we left behind the biological evolution tens of thousands of years ago and are mostly driven by our progressive cultural (ever increasingly faster) evolution. The broad scale vector of cultural evolution is towards betterment of humanity. And solutions to our problems can be found by having progressive, political, social and legal cultural evolution. The biological evolution is still ongoing but the rate of change to humanity because of it is very minuscule compared to the rate at which humanity is reshaping itself at a dramatic rate and is only going to grow exponentially. The reason why animals have less to none degree of "moral" behavior precisely because the biological evolution does not have a purpose, except for the apparent effect of survival of the lineage of organisms thru generations - in the environment they live in. In fact that apparent better and better survival of a species in a given environment, is called evolution. And in fact if the environment changes - global warming, climate change, huge volcanic eruptions, asteroid collision, then the environment changes dramatically, and then the dominant species will no longer stay dominant and some other species may dominate in the new environment. Example, Dinosaurs -> Asteroid impact -> Dinosaur extinct - Humans. So in fact the contrast you made between animals and humans you made makes a case for my proposal.
@@SandipChitale I didn't ignore people in jail or 9-11. I just considered them irrelevant. (9-11 was a moral act according to Islam in case you didn't know.) So Humanity is your meaning, specifically doing good humanity. Am I pessimistic about humanity, yes, I am. Let's see, how many people did the Humanist communists kill in the 20th Century? Hmm... Like 100 million people killed by Lenin, Stalin, Mao's sick societal experiments, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, I'm really acquainted with his followers, and don't forget Castro or Maduro. Heck, I forgot to add in Hitler's 16 million. I'm not even counting those killed by war. Still going strong too while thousands die from a Chinese Communist Party virus that could have easily been stopped, but for some reason the Humanists who run China just let an insidious bio-weapon loose on the world. That is the Italian medical paper's reference to how COVID-19 or CCP virus works. It doesn't attack the lungs directly, it attacks your hemoglobin and removes the 4 iron ions in your hemoglobin molecules. First you can't catch your breath as hypoxia sets in and you might get blood clots, then all that iron pools up in your lungs looking like SARS, but the Italians said it isn't, it is a bio-weapon. Our news, Left or Right has said very little about that, I wonder why? Rumor is that it was stolen from one of our labs, but it's just a rumor. You sound like the old WHIG party after the French Revolution and Enlightenment about how Humanity is just going to get better and then evolve, but I think we're devolving if you ask me. I approve of doing good, that is certain, but my meaning still comes from God and I hope He doesn't wipe us out for being so evil.
I would say the cosmos does have a reason, to experience itself. We are all the universe and it is infinite, the universe doesn't really have a choice, it just IS. Being born and dying creates this cycle of endless experiences that can never get boring for the universe. So the core reason would be: to simply experience and explore itself as infinite creatures. We all may have been an ant, cow, bird, ancient Egyptian, a dinosaur in previous lives. Almost like getting to participate in the ultimate videogame. It's just to BE alive, to experience, to have fun, to FEEL pleasure and pain, spirituality, wonder, mystery, to EXPLORE mother nature, the cosmos, and planet earth (parts of US). I think it's quite a simple reason, not some kind of mystical reason we could never grasp as humans, but again the mystery of it all is part of the excitement, the awe, the beauty, the adventure... the REASON. It could quite simply be down to the universe wanting to taste coffee.
The meaning of our existence is in us. We have to be responsable for our future. We don’t need god, maybe we need to build our own fate based on love and compassion. The equation of the theory of everything is there already waiting to be discovered. We are a rare product that was made by the universe. The porpose is to keep asking these questions. working (action) and loving (contemplation) Sounds interesting to me.
Great episode! The fact that intelligent life might be the “end product” of a universe could mean that intelligent civilizations interacting with the universe using physical laws as an interface is ultimately a way for the universe to become self aware at some point in time
Expansion means the universe is slowly dying as we speak. Any acquired knowledge will be lost at some point. Even aliens have the same physics to deal with. Time and distance is against us getting very far from our solar system. A dying sun our only headstone.
You might have to discover for yourself the question: "what is intelligence?" If you were to discover that question are you capable of remaining in front of it without killing it with answers? The moment you answer your question it ceases to be a question or you kill it. Do you simply assume that you know what intelligence is?
Perhaps the meaning question is best addressed through a science like psychology rather than cosmology. Maslow came close when he described a hierarchy of needs , culminating in self actualisation. This is fully developing our individual potential, our abilities, our talents, our interests. We can take this up then through levels such as family, community, nation, up to the whole world. The continuing development of civilisation, extending from the progress that Stephen Pinker describes in his book 'Enlightenment Now' is a way to create meaning. SETI remains an opportunity for a staggering insight whether it turns out that there are many instances of intelligent civilisations or that we are the only one.
Well said, plainly non=experiencing phenomena, or things, do not have the characteristics of experiencing phenomena such as aims, reasons or motives and you may agree with me that sometimes other experiencing phenomena such as men (human beings find it difficult to understand how any phenomena that appear unlike themselves have any corresponding experiences to those that they themselves experience. Quite what is meant by "the cosmos" I have absolutely no idea and it seems that whoever use the term cosmos has no idea either but plainly they assume it to be a non-experiencing phenomenon and thus it is unlikely to be able to experience such things as reasons or motives or aims. However in their bobtailed reason creatures similar to myself or men (human beings, sometimes project their experiences onto things incapable of experiencing those experiences or they talk about things like the cosmos or universe having "a reason", but one wonders reason for what, although it is true to say that human beings frequently confuse reason with motive or cause
The meaning of life to me is life. We are alive which means the universe is alive. The assumption should be that the rest of the universe is not dissimilar. Like neurons that communicate electric signals, perhaps what will occur when intelligent life discovers each other is to share beneficial information. Intergalactic travel may be too far away.
He is anthropocentric here. The cosmos does have meaning for at least us individual members of the only known animal species that can ask the question: we make it ourselves. There is no evidence of meaning in the cosmos itself.
Christopher Walsh , I’m not sure of that. While higher order animals do act with many human characteristics, how can we tell if they “wonder”? Do you have any research on this?
@@christopherwalsh3101 , by this definition (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wonder) and what is mentioned in this article (greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/animal_instincts), I would stand corrected. However, I have always understood that one big difference between humans and even higher-order other animals is the ability to reflect and ponder our existence. Even though the second article above mentions the word "wonder", I didn't see a good example of what I am talking about. This article (www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wondermonkey/2011/06/do-monkeys-wonder-1.shtml) addresses the issue. However, as you can see by the comments, the definition of wonder is not accepted unanimously. While I agree that the history of humans has minimized the traits of other animals to their demise, I think much is unknown about their ability to ponder and reflect. Perhaps there is some anthropomorphizing going on.
First tell me what you mean by "universe". You have not the faintest idea? - No surprises there. Moreover I am certain that you cannot set out what you mean by "universe" without reference to cognates and synonyms for psychological algebra such as X = Y = X, where both X and Y have no value or meaning or definition. Consider the following if you will: "Owing to the loss of the capacity to ponder and reflect, whenever the contemporary average man hears or employs in conversation any word with which he is familiar only by its consonance, he does not pause to think, nor does there even arise in him any question as to what exactly is meant by this word, he having already decided once and for all, both that he knows it and that others know it too. A question, perhaps, does sometimes arise in him when he hears an entirely unfamiliar word the first time; but in this case he is content merely to substitute for the unfamiliar word another suitable word of familiar consonance and then to imagine that he has understood it. To bring home what has just been said, an excellent example is provided by the words so often used by every contemporary man-”the universe.” If people knew how to grasp for themselves what passes in their thoughts when they hear or use the words ”the universe,” then most of them would have to admit-if of course they intended to be sincere-that the word carries no exact notion whatever for them. Catching by ear simply the accustomed consonance, the meaning of which they *assume* that they know, it is as if they say to themselves “Ah, the universe, I know what this is,” and serenely go on thinking. Should one deliberately arrest their attention on this word and know how to probe them to find just what they understand by it, they will at first be plainly as is said “embarrassed,” but quickly pulling themselves together, that is to say, quickly deceiving themselves, and recalling the first definition of the word that comes to mind, they will then offer it as their own, although, in fact, they had not thought of it before. If one has the requisite power and could compel a group of contemporary people, even from among those who have received so to say “a good education,” to state exactly how they each understand the word “the universe,” they would all so “beat about the bush” that involuntarily one would recall even having one's finger nails pulled out with pliers with a certain tenderness." The words in quotation marks do not need to be "the universe" but could as easily be world, intelligence, or consciousness, it would all have equal application.
18:07 If there's a world (which there is), why does it necessarily need a god? 18:20 "If something exists, it requires explanation". Why? What the need for such requirement? Even if there's such need, who or what says that homo sapiens is the one to eventually provide that explanation?
The purpose of life can be seen as to experience your life and self-expression. Each of these experiences can be interrupted, so a major goal is not to be interrupted on these fundamental components/options in living. Self-discovery of Kaku ... yes.
With respect the words meaning and life do not appear in the question as posed and its exact words are does the cosmos have a reason. the meaning of life is gibberish, not unlike where's the where the where?Particularly when you will struggle to find a single being that can define either meaning or life, as you are about to demonstrate or my left pocket is going to pay my right pocket a certain amount of pounds. Even biologists aren't all agreed on the meaning of of the word or term life. What people do is hear words and say to themselves Ah yes I know what that means, but you actually ask them what it means they invariably can't tell you or resort to psychological algebra or substituting one undefined term for another which in algebraic terms would look like x=y=x where neither x nor y has a value or specificity. My back pocket bets my left pocket that you have absolutely no idea what you mean by "meaning" and cannot define it without resort to psychological algebra or cognates and synonyms or simply replacing one one undefined term with another undefined term such as significance or some waffle like that.I can define leading, but you can't
Meaning comes from fulfilling and satisfying our nature and potentials ... this the primary spiritual task of human life ... human consciousness entailing an option which others don't, which is, the possibility of escaping our very experience and being leaving one in an empty and alienated state. Horses and dogs don't do that. If you want to bet on my definition of spiritual, don't bother betting your other pocket, bet yours against mine for 100K.
@@e-t-y237 That is a description not a definition - it is like saying that meaning is blue. What actually is meaning or rather what does meaning mean? Try to address that if you can without resort to psychological algebra or simply replacing one undefined term with another as for example swapping meaning for some other word like significance which is not defining it just as no resort to cognates and synonyms is is a definition
@@vhawk1951kl What do you mean then when you say "What does meaning MEAN?" Obviously you have a working usage of "mean/meaning," or you yourself are gibberish with a circular self-denying, self-negating argument. Of course we can drill down to ultimate definitions and no one has any ... this does not mean words have no usages and communication. First purpose of our life is to experience our life (rather than escaping it with denial, dissociation, addiction, repression, etc.) ... this isn't much more controversial than first purpose of lungs is to breathe.
Here's a thought...."the more we deny God's existence, the more elusive He becomes. God does not need (by all means) our approval or acknowledge of his omnipresence. Simply put, the vastness of God is in all of us and also out there. It does not matter if you believe it or not. Generations will keep coming and going and the same discussion and theories will remain unsolved, why? simply because Ego and the self entitlement of grandiose, will keep us in the shadow by the natural law itself."
I m agnosic about the existence of God as a function of knowledge. As a function of belief I tend to Atheism. There s no evidence for God. Asking questions like "where did everything come from if not God?" is an argument from ignorance, known as the God of the gaps argument.
The constant problem of people denying God existence is that they have this horrendous misconception of God being visible or material being. Of course! that's what we are used to. To see to believe. But there are unnumbered unseen agents out there, giving us life and comfort. To say " I don't believe in God because and don't see him" ....Is like saying I don't believe in my Mother because I can't see her....(while you're in her womb). Case closed.
Many people wish to live ' for ever ' .....normally they are the same people who get bored on a wet Sunday afternoon if there's nothing on television....but they want " eternal life ' ! ?
understanding of the environment on the observational data and using this information for better fitting into the environment for building more efficient tools for gathering and processing information about the observable universe is the main feature of life as a whole. this is how the onservable universe is observing and understanding of itself..
The answer is the question, the question is the answer. If there was no reason there would be no question, if there was no question there would be no reason. Godammit, I am a f*cking.......how do you spell genues? The universe is a beautiful mystery, how lucky we all are to be conscious for the blink of an eye, enjoy it while you're here, it would be a total bore if we knew everything, in fact, dare I say it would be horrifyingly meaningless. The question is the answer. Peace to my fellow time-travelers. How glorious it is to wonder.
Many thanks for the video. Cosmic meaning or purpose? Well, one thing we seem to know for sure. We and all humanity are literally part and parcel of the universe itself; we are conscious intelligent sentient beings who are an evolutionary and biological byproduct of star stuff. Thus, we can say this: through us, the universe is actually contemplating its own meaning and purpose.
Help me with this please: when you use the word cosmic or cosmos", what exactly are you trying to convey when you use those words or rather what associations are evoked in your associative apparatus by those words? If you look up the etymology of cosmic or cosmos all you will discover is that it is merely an old Greek cognate or synonym of universe, and it will avail you a little if you embark upon psychological algebra and simply substitute one unknown for another or say X = Y = Xwhere both X and Y have no value.There is little point in discovering anything about what you call cosmos or universe unless you are capable of saying what you mean to convey when you use the words universe or cosmos. If you tell me that you have no clear notion whatsoever what associations are evoked in your associative apparatus by the words cosmos or universe, I have to tell you that it will come as no surprise to me because it plain to me that when people use the words cosmic cosmos or universe - or any universal for that matter, they have no corresponding associations evoked in the associative apparatuses which is to say they have no idea what they mean or seek to convey when they use them and it is highly likely that you will be for to tell me that you have no clear notion whatsoever of what you mean by cosmos or universe. To make that simpler, if I ask you what you mean by cosmos or universe you will have to tell me that you have no idea whatsoever and are about to do so by signally failing to set out what you mean by cosmos or universe, for the simple reason that you have no idea, and thus cannot, as you are about to demonstrate, Moreover were I to forbid you from employing cognates or synonyms that would make your task even more difficult because it is very difficult if not impossible for human beings to set out exactly what they mean by cosmos or universe without using cognates or synonyms or resorting to psychological algebra or X = Y = X.
Our brains cannot comprehend the meaning or purpose of our and universe’s existence. The universe can’t fit in our brains but our brains fit in the universe.
What experience have you of brains other than your own? Thus what in blue blazes is "our brains"? What evidential basis do you have for supposing all brains to be either identical or homogenous?
The hardest question is "Why?", but for questions like this... I really agree with only Michio Kaku, there is no meaning, you have to create it yourself. Even if God exists, why did he create the Universe? Do multiple Universes exists? Are they running in some docker containers or some virtual machines? Is it just a simulation meaning to see some statistics? Is God the origin of everything or is God created by another God himself? Why?
Humanities life span is limited. No matter how long we last it will never be long enough The universe will go through what ever life cycle it has without us to ponder at its wonders. If there is a purpose or intelligent design to the universe it seems quite fond of bacteria. Maybe we are just here to support the bacterial life we see as the dominate life form on this rock.
@Steven You don't have to be the most intelligent to be the most dominate. Bacteria, in way or another controls most biology. And why would our intelligence convey a special position or higher purpose ?
Try humanity's. Humanity is a universal and thus imaginary as are all universals and imaginary things don't have limited lifespans - screamingly obviously for the simple reason that they don't have lives.
It doesn't need a reason and neither do we. It exists by the nature of itself. And so do we. It lives in us as much as we in it. The right question would be how, not why.
Mikio always sounds like a motivational speaker, although I agree with ME ME ME - I need a reason for ME (my life, my existence) Not irrelevant - because it shows the way from POINTLESS LIFE to CREATIVE LIFE. But again: the question is wrong The cosmos exists and only its parts can have reasons (as we define reasons). It did not begin, will not end and has no reason. I have a feeling, Robert, you are looking for something that does not exist. But your episodes may give yourself reason! Someone wrote: If you find the answers your series would be over. I think he was right. But you won't find them.
It would have been nice to hear from a theologian/physicist. The one Christian interviewed was out of touch with theology in my opinion, because if God is the ground of all being, how could God have nothing to do with the big bang? If God is the creator of the universe as he says, and its sustainer, how could any part of it be fully explained (emphasis on "fully) without reference to Him?
To get closer to truth one must needs to truly understand Plato's work, especially understanding his Socrates. Everything has a reason, from the smallest to the largest, but "God only knows", as Socrates would often exclaim. There is, indeed, an e-mail from heaven, and it's embedded in Plato's work.
The purpose of being a human being: BEING. There are lots of obstructions to being, but optimizing it is in the inherent nature of anything: self-expression.
Surely if*everything*is "life, nothing is life, or just as Uncle Sam put it when in his cups: "if it's all right, why then nothing is right." Understanding which is a qualifying exam question and tends to separate those who can understand from those that can't. To some it is plain as day, while to others it is utterly opaque.
The question is why ask philosophical and metaphysical questions to physicists and astronomers. It is clearly outside their area of expertise. You might as well ask a mailman, lawyer or an accountant. They might even give you a much less biased answer.
The religious guy straight up said "I start by assuming god is true and all of my approach to science is based on trying to pigeonhole what fits". So typical.
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I can appreciate your wanting to ask for meaning. We all ask the question on some level and with more or less expectation of an answer. But what would become of your curiosity, awe and drive to continue to seek truth, if an answer to your question was to be suddenly revealed? Who would you become if a purpose and meaning was decided for you long ago? I will argue that it is precisely because any purpose, if it exists, remains unknown to you, that you have any hope of meaning during your existence at all. And that is why religious people have over time have valued the lives of "non-believers" with so little regard. Once you believe in your devinity, what purpose is there for any life that doesn't at a bare minimum conform to your beliefs? Others become inferior, at best to be pittied or "converted" lest they present a continued challenge to your belief, at worst to be slaughtered as pestilence. Be careful what you wish for. Some truths are better left unknowable.
If you will forgive me: there are certain problems with using universal such as "we all" which is open to a rather obvious series of questions and possible objections is it not? There are obvious problems with employing universals because broadly speaking they can only possibly be imaginary or supposed.
@@onestepaway3232 from your point of view yes, but I personaly dont believe any religion is true and so I view it as a subjective thing, you choose to have purpose, perhaps for some it is working on yourself, like finding your inner strenghts. But some may choose not to have purpose, from my experiences most while pretending to be agents of faith have chosen their purpose to be ruining someone elses lives, so thats an example.
L E whi said anything about religion? I’m speaking about ultimate purpose and God. Religion is just a belief system doesn’t mean it is true. Completely different mindsets of thought and perspective
If it didn't have a beginning, it cant have a reason. It just is. Having said that.... Unless it was "created purposefully"........ It still cant have a reason. It has either been present always (whatever that means?.....) or, it spontainiously popped into existence from nothing for no reason. Which I personally cant rule out..........
@@Ndo01 Was he right to denounce all of philosophy as meaningless (including his own) and then began pontificating shortly thereafter? We do need to indeed need to find out what meaning is because without it we will never achieve true AI.
I think meaning, like maths, is something we discover rather than make up, but like maths, it takes many forms. Most meaningful lives seem to be about investing in some greater whole that will live on after we do - family, country, humanity, the planet, art, science, knowledge, truth, beauty, God etc. “Ars longa, vita brevis”. IMO our individual meaning isn’t discovered by studying the physical Universe, but by knowing ourselves, our values etc. and realising them in the physical universe.
@Steven It's true that animals have a different intelligence, however, I have to wonder if they could choose, would they deliberately destroy that which keeps them alive?
Further more, if you take plants, for instance, there are trees in Africa, can't remember the name, that herbivores eat, and if there is a drought, they will produce a poison to prevent the total destruction of their species, in turn the herbivores will not produce the offspring and so a balance is restored. In contrast human beings, who have the capacity to choose whether to destroy this beautiful and absolutely necessary planet for our very survival, choose to destroy it. Can't eat money you know, can't breathe without oxygen, can't drink polluted water. So how are we intelligent beings? Because we know what we are doing, but choose to do it anyway? That's intelligence?
Robert Lawrance Kuhn deserves far more number of views, likes and subscriptions than he's getting.
I agree, but most people are too busy trying to entertain themselves to even ask themselves the larger questions such as the meaning of our existence.
I like him, he's a "thinker".
Yes!
It's still early....😂
l
Best channel on UA-cam. You da man, Dr. Kuhn. I wish we could meet.
The people he interviews on his quest always seem like such nice people. Way smart, but balanced and humble.
RLK is the Carl Sagan of scientific spirituality. Well-reasoned, challenging, and insightful, Dr Kuhn inspires a journey to get Closer To Truth.
If he were all those things he wouldn't be a mere popularizer like Sagan, Tyson, Greene, Cox, Carroll, etc.
Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the real deal and blows out of the water pretty much every other science yt channel hands down
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Can’t get enough of this Chanel. Thank you for making these educational videos.
Does consciousness have a reason ? This question should come first. I love this channel. Thanks for having Dr. Michio Kaku, I adore him.
I think that "Does reason have a reason" should come first 🤯
See Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Toss in some Beckett.
Consciousness is a property-function of DNA possessing organisms. It is a device, one of many, for conserving that DNA.
@@arthurwieczorek4894great assertion can’t wait till you get an argument or any scientific evidence for that claim other than “the brain reflects the mind therefore the brain is the mind”
I always enjoy watching these videos because they address the questions we should be asking.
so if you watch enough of these terrific shows, you may conclude as i have that among all these brilliant philosophers and scientists, the best and brightest of them all is the guy who's asking the questions.
Thank you !! I discovered this channel a week ago but it's already my favorite !
So did I but for how long?😄
I did too! Weird!
It's good, but you don't really learn anything, it's just possibilities of how and why things are.
That's really all this show is about. He doesn't give you hard facts just highlights different theories and thoughts. Closer to the Truth not Here is the Truth.
Love this channel and all that Robert Kuhn investigates
fully agreed as to the value and outstanding quality of this show. thank you Doc.
Wonderful series of videos by Robert Lawrance Kuhn.. Show his vast knowledge, logical mind and massive effort.. Big thanks..
Great segment, engineer why and how the truck works , driver hopes it works, Robert articulates excellent questions, guests often answer eloquently, mentally I absorb the conversation , myself I couldn’t verbalize like the guests , I’m a big fan of “Closer to Truth “ 🤔👌
“Intelligence is quite rare” He is correct.
And I suppose you claim to be in the elite? Everyone I meet does.
Vaul, Dog Warrior NOOOOOO. I don’t know much of anything at all. I am just an observer.
The question of why the universe exists and what its purpose is, may forever be within the sphere of philosophy and speculation, therefore subjective; but this video made me realise that in the process of asking the question and looking for answers, we can discover profound ways and perspectives to study the universe and come up with visions to progress as a species, advance and evolve further. If nothing else, "it is a humbling experience", to paraphrase Carl Sagan and maybe for this reason alone, a worthwhile cause.
If you will forgive me, "why the universe exists" will bear any number of different interpretations which could embrace causes reasons and motives, none of which could conceivably be attached to non-experiencing phenomena or things or collections of things.
You will not get very far with the question "why does the universe exist" unless you set out fairly clearly and accurately precisely what you seek to convey or mean when you use the words "the universe, and unless you can do that the question is otiose futile or pointless.
Why this channel has so little subscribers..hands down the best channel on utube
What about the Billions of people who live in poverty or as refugees or in the middle of war, etc...? What is their purpose? Or what is the purpose for their suffering? I have trouble finding purpose because I don't just consider my privileged position in life.
Is God to do everything? Then what's our purpose? Maybe we human beings should do the caring on his behalf. The evidence points to consciousness being fundamental and that alone is evidence for God's existence or at the very least the Universe is itself intelligent. Those that disagree with evidence probably lacks the capacity to understand albeit no fault of theirs; some genetic mental errency.
That's why the question itself is misguided. Things don't have meaning or purpose in and of themselves. It is a relational concept predicated on consciousness. Life is literally the conduit and fundamental constituent for all meaning.
@@Ndo01 I agree. But we must not ignore the fact that we live in a closed system. Consciousness isn't some alien phenomenon but that which comes from the unknown just like the other laws. It is the system itself that is conscious and intelligent that manifests itself as human beings among all the other elements and laws.
@@djmarioc I too hold this view.
Simon Sozzi Check out Advaita Vedanta it has a better answer. Search does god allow suffering Sarvapriyananda. Vedanta explains that this entire universe has risen in consciousness and depends on consciousness for its existence. It has no reality of its own. It appears like a dream. It even goes on to say that no one was born and no one ever dies. Look up sarvapriyananda. He teaches from the wisdom teachings of the Upanishads and other sages like Adi Shankacharya
I like to look at it this way, "life" gives the universe a purpose a reason and a meaning.
and, vegetation is life. even if there was only vegetation throughout the universe the universe would still have a purpose a reason and a meaning. life is life, it gives purpose, reason and a meaning.
thank you for the "likes" people!
@Alpha Centauri
as for what I said, it is just how I feel about it. like you and all I very well may be wrong, and it does not matter to existence. and I know and understand and except that. but I just like to look at it that way, I am part Native America, I believe and FEEL, yes feel that all things inside the universe are connected, yes I feel the universe is alive.. again, just like all humans, I very well may be wrong..
""In what way? For example, purpose defined is the the reason something is done, or what something is created for""
if a plant makes a seed, and the seed grows, then the mother plant has a purpose. then with that we should believe the universe is alive.
as I do believe that!
you are going back before the elements and the Big Bang.
if there is or was a creator of the elements and the universe or a creator of the fabric of reality. then everything does have a purpose and a meaning. at the very least in the creator's mind there is a purpose and a meaning.
if the elements and the universe are truly just a true accident then the universe does not have a purpose or meaning. yet it does have a reason for being here. and that reason is that the correct elements mixed together and blew up and made a Big Bang.
if there is no purpose or meaning for a "true" accident, then there is only a reason for a 'true" accident. unless the universe is alive.
@Alpha Centauri , I understand that, it's very much the same as saying there is a god. again, I was only saying how I look at it.
but as for truth, only a mind can produce purpose and meaning. and there is proof that reality is tuned to produce life. and life gives reality purpose and meaning. well as I see it.
Excellent content!
Elsewhere I have heard the idea that our existence is the universe itself becoming self aware. I'd like to hear more on that idea.
Basically the idea is that everything is the universe since it all came from a single point, so in essence we are the universe experiencing itself.
The answer is the question, the question is the answer. If there was no reason there would be no question, if there was no question there would be no reason.
Check out the Godel Escher Bach lecture series or book
Check out allan watts
Perhaps human self awareness is just another aspect of what is and is significant only to us.
I love how honest You are
It's rather satisfying to find that all these very clever people struggle with the same basic concepts as I do myself. What was also rather satisfying was that I actually understood this one, whereas more typically I watch and listen in awe but do not fully comprehend. Perhaps it's rather arrogant of us to assume that there must be meaning for our existence, perhaps we should accept that our existence is purely a byproduct of the Big Bang, thereby eliminating the need for humanity to have any greater significance than that.
If you will forgive me, if they are "basic" concepts, wherein lies the struggle? Do you struggle with bread or water or air? - They too are basic concepts of a not?
Your problem may be that you have not the faintest idea what you mean by "the cosmos".
As it happens the word cosmos is simply an old Greek cognate or synonym for universe and the truth of the matter is you have not the faintest idea what you mean by the universe either is it not?
My left pocket now bets my right pockets that you are about to demonstrate that you have not the faintest idea what you mean by either the universe or cosmos and are about to demonstrate that by signally failing to set out what you mean by either the universe or cosmos without reference to cognates and synonyms or other forms of psychological algebra.
I really like how Robert actually listens to the people he's interviewing. He's not dismissing them outright or arguing. He has a real discussion... Him and Joe Rogan haha
Can't agree more. When he disagrees its upon a logical conflict or just with pure excitement. Pleasure to watch.
It's a fine example of the blind leading the blind or those is no idea asking others with no idea,moreover they are asking questions which cannot be answered,which is rather like asking where'is the where the where?
Why might it cross anybody's mind that (whatever they mean by) the cosmos, might have a reason although what the meaning of reason seems to be left hanging in the air.
It is a classic example of projection or assuming that something that is not you has your characteristics.
@@vhawk1951kl haha I actually stopped watching since I came to the same conclusion. I gained nothing from watching. It always ends "well that could be true.. or not. There's no way to really know".
@@SpittinSquirell Hail or health to you my brother. A ready wit is like a razorblade and it cannot cut nothing or simply fluff and the makers of the video have simply demonstrated the simple truth that if you cannot mumbo you might as well jumbo
Thanks for your work and for this channel!
Always informative about big questions.
One purpose of the universe seems to be evolution thru trial and error. We see this throughout nature. The universe is evolving towards super intelligence or the creation of a God in our current understanding. This channel is amazing.
Superb.....Thanks..Just...Thanks for This Episode......
A wonderful episode of this fascinating series! Cosmic!
I would suggest that a vast array of different possibilities of living experiences is the purpose of the cosmos. To explore those possibilities, to live within them, to know what it is to be them. Naturally this assumes that materialism is incorrect...but I have no difficulty assuming that.
I am unfamiliar with materialism being incorrect. Is the current thinking that we are made of something other than atoms?
@@patmoran5339 He is probably taking the stance that consciousness is fundamental. I believe everything is made of consciousness.
@@patmoran5339 I don't know about people's current thinking in general, as I don't go by such trends. I know that the only thing I can say about myself with any certainty is that I embody the experience that is consciousness.
Bryan Guilford so are atoms made of consciousness?
@@patmoran5339 Is there a good reason why they should not be?
Robert Lawrence Kuhn is an amazing man.
A very good chanell. I love those kinds of videos. Dr. Kuhn, you are a very smart man. Greetings from austria. Jonathan
If asking futile and answerless question is is being well-dressed or smart, then I think you will find there are good many well-dressed or smart beings on this planet.
Being and becoming. The Eternal is, the Infinite becomes.
completey agree with Prof. Guth. 10:05
First this is a great channel discussing important topics. Thanks Robert.
Cosmos does not have intrinsic reason (also note the distinction between reason and cause - which are sometimes used interchangeably), but now that it exists and we are here, we have to find the purpose in our life and do good. The question can be asked at different levels and get different answers and it is perfectly OK. To insist that the answer has to be same at each level is not the correct approach IMO.
I sometimes wonder if Robert is intentionally trying to confound the question - so that he can say see scientists are saying that there is no reason for the universe and thus by extension they are saying there is no meaning to life - with negative connotation that scientists don't find meaning and purpose in our existence. Not so fast. Many scientists will not mix those questions. Most scientists in the video said the same thing i.e. we have to find our own meaning and purpose, but Robert seems to ignore it. Of course, we as humans have to find and we do find meaning and purpose in our social and emotional life.
The notion of meanings and purpose is different at different levels. For example, can we ask if a water is wet or not? can we ask if a single water molecule is wet or not? And can we insist that the answer is same for both? Of course not. Of course large collection of water molecules is wet. No one will call a single water molecule wet.
Also the meaning of the words - reason, meaning and purpose can be different and we do actually know that it can be different. For example why does water flow downhill - the reason (used here in the sense of "cause") is gravity. This reason is qualitatively different than the reason (used in the sense of effect) why a person is happy when they get a salary increase.
It is true that we can cross these boundaries if we keep asking the question - "but why is that?" (like a kid), but the qualitative meaning of the words like reason, purpose and meaning will have to be adjusted as we cross those boundaries.
To require that the universe should have a reason so that we can have meaning and purpose in human life is similar to requiring a god to be a moral person. We all know that we can be moral without need for god. Conversely, some people can be immoral with god. Many people that have been put in jail for immoral behavior, believe in god. Crusades, 9/11.
As Hitch would have said, to have a need for external thing to give us meaning is not a mature stance to take. It is infantile.
So in all these discussions we should start with definitions.
So good old atheistic nihilism is the result. Pretend it isn't true, but if there isn't any meaning then nihilism and total selfishness. Seems to have greatly affected our selfish society.
@@MountainFisher Looks like you did not read my comments fully. I never said anything about 'nihilism'. Please do not put up a strawman and shoot it down.
@@SandipChitale So you believe life has meaning? I ask because it seemed that you're making your own meaning, which is the same as what I said, pretending. I do not see that you believe life has meaning in your comments, as a matter of fact you said that if one has to find meaning external to oneself it is infantile. Sorry, but finding meaning in your own self is meaningless to everyone else unless there is an external foci that gives all human life meaning.
I am not a fan of modern ethics nor trying to find true meaning within a meaningless worldview that makes humankind no different than animals. Call me infantile, but if there isn't something outside ourselves that gives meaning to even the lowest begging leper then it's all just pretend and nihilism IS the real meaning.
@@MountainFisher I said "... we have to find the purpose in our life and DO GOOD."
and "we as humans have to find and we DO find meaning and purpose in our social and emotional life.". "We" refers to not self but the humanity as a whole, and of course we as individuals have to do our part. And most of the good people in the society do IN FACT DO that. And I am sure, at least many of them do GOOD, NOT because there is something external that gives their own life (and lives of the people they care about) meaning and purpose. And conversely, if there was nothing external they would not do GOOD and may do BAD. If that is what you think, then my friend you see things differently. I am more optimistic about humanity. I am pretty sure that is not nihilistic. You seem to be quite pessimistic about humanity.
You also ignored my examples of people in jail (for example) or 9/11 etc. Statistically it is evident that there are a lot of people in jail that believe in called external mechanisms like god that give their lives meaning and yet they committed immoral acts.
The humans differ from animals because we left behind the biological evolution tens of
thousands of years ago and are mostly driven by our progressive cultural (ever increasingly faster) evolution. The broad scale vector of cultural evolution is towards betterment of humanity. And solutions to our problems can be found by having progressive, political, social and legal cultural evolution. The biological evolution is still ongoing but the rate of change to humanity because of it is very minuscule compared to the rate at which humanity is reshaping itself at a dramatic rate and is only going to grow exponentially. The reason why animals have less to none degree of "moral" behavior precisely because the biological evolution does not have a purpose, except for the apparent effect of survival of the lineage of organisms thru generations - in the environment they live in. In fact that apparent better and better survival of a species in a given environment, is called evolution. And in fact if the environment changes - global warming, climate change, huge volcanic eruptions, asteroid collision, then the environment changes dramatically, and then the dominant species will no longer stay dominant and some other species may dominate in the new environment. Example, Dinosaurs -> Asteroid impact -> Dinosaur extinct - Humans. So in fact the contrast you made between animals and humans you made makes a case for my proposal.
@@SandipChitale I didn't ignore people in jail or 9-11. I just considered them irrelevant. (9-11 was a moral act according to Islam in case you didn't know.) So Humanity is your meaning, specifically doing good humanity. Am I pessimistic about humanity, yes, I am. Let's see, how many people did the Humanist communists kill in the 20th Century? Hmm... Like 100 million people killed by Lenin, Stalin, Mao's sick societal experiments, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, I'm really acquainted with his followers, and don't forget Castro or Maduro. Heck, I forgot to add in Hitler's 16 million. I'm not even counting those killed by war.
Still going strong too while thousands die from a Chinese Communist Party virus that could have easily been stopped, but for some reason the Humanists who run China just let an insidious bio-weapon loose on the world. That is the Italian medical paper's reference to how COVID-19 or CCP virus works. It doesn't attack the lungs directly, it attacks your hemoglobin and removes the 4 iron ions in your hemoglobin molecules. First you can't catch your breath as hypoxia sets in and you might get blood clots, then all that iron pools up in your lungs looking like SARS, but the Italians said it isn't, it is a bio-weapon. Our news, Left or Right has said very little about that, I wonder why? Rumor is that it was stolen from one of our labs, but it's just a rumor.
You sound like the old WHIG party after the French Revolution and Enlightenment about how Humanity is just going to get better and then evolve, but I think we're devolving if you ask me. I approve of doing good, that is certain, but my meaning still comes from God and I hope He doesn't wipe us out for being so evil.
I appreciated that you shared your thoughts in a documentary way...
Your videos are exceptionally well done.
I would say the cosmos does have a reason, to experience itself. We are all the universe and it is infinite, the universe doesn't really have a choice, it just IS. Being born and dying creates this cycle of endless experiences that can never get boring for the universe. So the core reason would be: to simply experience and explore itself as infinite creatures. We all may have been an ant, cow, bird, ancient Egyptian, a dinosaur in previous lives. Almost like getting to participate in the ultimate videogame. It's just to BE alive, to experience, to have fun, to FEEL pleasure and pain, spirituality, wonder, mystery, to EXPLORE mother nature, the cosmos, and planet earth (parts of US). I think it's quite a simple reason, not some kind of mystical reason we could never grasp as humans, but again the mystery of it all is part of the excitement, the awe, the beauty, the adventure... the REASON. It could quite simply be down to the universe wanting to taste coffee.
The meaning of our existence is in us. We have to be responsable for our future. We don’t need god, maybe we need to build our own fate based on love and compassion. The equation of the theory of everything is there already waiting to be discovered. We are a rare product that was made by the universe. The porpose is to keep asking these questions. working (action) and loving (contemplation) Sounds interesting to me.
7:15 He's trying to say "Whatever gets you through the day Michio.🙄"
Michio is the reason I do drugs
The Quaker "inner voice" is a sort of email from heaven.
Great episode! The fact that intelligent life might be the “end product” of a universe could mean that intelligent civilizations interacting with the universe using physical laws as an interface is ultimately a way for the universe to become self aware at some point in time
Expansion means the universe is slowly dying as we speak. Any acquired knowledge will be lost at some point. Even aliens have the same physics to deal with. Time and distance is against us getting very far from our solar system. A dying sun our only headstone.
@@thomasridley8675 please go away, there is no need for a headstone for youl
You might have to discover for yourself the question: "what is intelligence?" If you were to discover that question are you capable of remaining in front of it without killing it with answers? The moment you answer your question it ceases to be a question or you kill it.
Do you simply assume that you know what intelligence is?
Perhaps the meaning question is best addressed through a science like psychology rather than cosmology. Maslow came close when he described a hierarchy of needs , culminating in self actualisation. This is fully developing our individual potential, our abilities, our talents, our interests. We can take this up then through levels such as family, community, nation, up to the whole world. The continuing development of civilisation, extending from the progress that Stephen Pinker describes in his book 'Enlightenment Now' is a way to create meaning. SETI remains an opportunity for a staggering insight whether it turns out that there are many instances of intelligent civilisations or that we are the only one.
Well said, plainly non=experiencing phenomena, or things, do not have the characteristics of experiencing phenomena such as aims, reasons or motives and you may agree with me that sometimes other experiencing phenomena such as men (human beings find it difficult to understand how any phenomena that appear unlike themselves have any corresponding experiences to those that they themselves experience.
Quite what is meant by "the cosmos" I have absolutely no idea and it seems that whoever use the term cosmos has no idea either but plainly they assume it to be a non-experiencing phenomenon and thus it is unlikely to be able to experience such things as reasons or motives or aims. However in their bobtailed reason creatures similar to myself or men (human beings, sometimes project their experiences onto things incapable of experiencing those experiences or they talk about things like the cosmos or universe having "a reason", but one wonders reason for what, although it is true to say that human beings frequently confuse reason with motive or cause
Robert please keep searching "TRUTH." BROTHER JAMES 🙏
Some people don't take this concept seriously ! All play n no work!! 👍👍
The meaning of life to me is life. We are alive which means the universe is alive. The assumption should be that the rest of the universe is not dissimilar. Like neurons that communicate electric signals, perhaps what will occur when intelligent life discovers each other is to share beneficial information. Intergalactic travel may be too far away.
I would guess that the Universe has every reason possible, every purpose possible.
He is anthropocentric here. The cosmos does have meaning for at least us individual members of the only known animal species that can ask the question: we make it ourselves. There is no evidence of meaning in the cosmos itself.
Some animals can wonder too.
Christopher Walsh , I’m not sure of that. While higher order animals do act with many human characteristics, how can we tell if they “wonder”? Do you have any research on this?
@@86645ut brains make consciousness, and wondering is a behavior of consciousness. Why wouldn't animals wonder?
@@christopherwalsh3101 , by this definition (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wonder) and what is mentioned in this article (greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/animal_instincts), I would stand corrected. However, I have always understood that one big difference between humans and even higher-order other animals is the ability to reflect and ponder our existence. Even though the second article above mentions the word "wonder", I didn't see a good example of what I am talking about.
This article (www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wondermonkey/2011/06/do-monkeys-wonder-1.shtml) addresses the issue. However, as you can see by the comments, the definition of wonder is not accepted unanimously. While I agree that the history of humans has minimized the traits of other animals to their demise, I think much is unknown about their ability to ponder and reflect. Perhaps there is some anthropomorphizing going on.
How is this for odd. At 4:20 on 4/20/2020 the price of oil hit $0. Then headed into negative pricing for the first time in history.
Whoa ... Jill Tarter: "What is the universe best at" as its purpose. Cool.
First tell me what you mean by "universe".
You have not the faintest idea? - No surprises there. Moreover I am certain that you cannot set out what you mean by "universe" without reference to cognates and synonyms for psychological algebra such as X = Y = X, where both X and Y have no value or meaning or definition. Consider the following if you will:
"Owing to the loss of the capacity to ponder and reflect, whenever the contemporary average man hears or employs in conversation any word with which he is familiar only by its consonance, he does not pause to think, nor does there even arise in him any question as to what exactly is meant by this word, he having already decided once and for all, both that he knows it and that others know it too.
A question, perhaps, does sometimes arise in him when he hears an entirely unfamiliar word the first time; but in this case he is content merely to substitute for the unfamiliar word another suitable word of familiar consonance and then to imagine that he has understood it.
To bring home what has just been said, an excellent example is provided by the words so often used by every contemporary man-”the universe.”
If people knew how to grasp for themselves what passes in their thoughts when they hear or use the words ”the universe,” then most of them would have to admit-if of course they intended to be sincere-that the word carries no exact notion whatever for them. Catching by ear simply the accustomed consonance, the meaning of which they *assume* that they know, it is as if they say to themselves “Ah, the universe, I know what this is,” and serenely go on thinking.
Should one deliberately arrest their attention on this word and know how to probe them to find just what they understand by it, they will at first be plainly as is said “embarrassed,” but quickly pulling themselves together, that is to say, quickly deceiving themselves, and recalling the first definition of the word that comes to mind, they
will then offer it as their own, although, in fact, they had not thought of it before.
If one has the requisite power and could compel a group of contemporary people, even from among those who have received so to say “a good education,” to state exactly how they each understand the word “the universe,” they
would all so “beat about the bush” that involuntarily one would recall even having one's finger nails pulled out with pliers with a certain tenderness."
The words in quotation marks do not need to be "the universe" but could as easily be world, intelligence, or consciousness, it would all have equal application.
18:07 If there's a world (which there is), why does it necessarily need a god? 18:20 "If something exists, it requires explanation". Why? What the need for such requirement? Even if there's such need, who or what says that homo sapiens is the one to eventually provide that explanation?
The purpose of life can be seen as to experience your life and self-expression. Each of these experiences can be interrupted, so a major goal is not to be interrupted on these fundamental components/options in living. Self-discovery of Kaku ... yes.
With respect the words meaning and life do not appear in the question as posed and its exact words are does the cosmos have a reason.
the meaning of life is gibberish, not unlike where's the where the where?Particularly when you will struggle to find a single being that can define either meaning or life, as you are about to demonstrate or my left pocket is going to pay my right pocket a certain amount of pounds.
Even biologists aren't all agreed on the meaning of of the word or term life.
What people do is hear words and say to themselves Ah yes I know what that means, but you actually ask them what it means they invariably can't tell you or resort to psychological algebra or substituting one undefined term for another which in algebraic terms would look like x=y=x where neither x nor y has a value or specificity.
My back pocket bets my left pocket that you have absolutely no idea what you mean by "meaning" and cannot define it without resort to psychological algebra or cognates and synonyms or simply replacing one one undefined term with another undefined term such as significance or some waffle like that.I can define leading, but you can't
Meaning comes from fulfilling and satisfying our nature and potentials ... this the primary spiritual task of human life ... human consciousness entailing an option which others don't, which is, the possibility of escaping our very experience and being leaving one in an empty and alienated state. Horses and dogs don't do that. If you want to bet on my definition of spiritual, don't bother betting your other pocket, bet yours against mine for 100K.
@@e-t-y237 That is a description not a definition - it is like saying that meaning is blue.
What actually is meaning or rather what does meaning mean? Try to address that if you can without resort to psychological algebra or simply replacing one undefined term with another as for example swapping meaning for some other word like significance which is not defining it just as no resort to cognates and synonyms is is a definition
@@vhawk1951kl What do you mean then when you say "What does meaning MEAN?" Obviously you have a working usage of "mean/meaning," or you yourself are gibberish with a circular self-denying, self-negating argument. Of course we can drill down to ultimate definitions and no one has any ... this does not mean words have no usages and communication. First purpose of our life is to experience our life (rather than escaping it with denial, dissociation, addiction, repression, etc.) ... this isn't much more controversial than first purpose of lungs is to breathe.
Without watching this: the answer has to be if you value your existence. If not: it wasn't designed for you.
Here's a thought...."the more we deny God's existence, the more elusive He becomes. God does not need (by all means) our approval or acknowledge of his omnipresence. Simply put, the vastness of God is in all of us and also out there. It does not matter if you believe it or not. Generations will keep coming and going and the same discussion and theories will remain unsolved, why? simply because Ego and the self entitlement of grandiose, will keep us in the shadow by the natural law itself."
I m agnosic about the existence of God as a function of knowledge. As a function of belief I tend to Atheism. There s no evidence for God. Asking questions like "where did everything come from if not God?" is an argument from ignorance, known as the God of the gaps argument.
The constant problem of people denying God existence is that they have this horrendous misconception of God being visible or material being. Of course! that's what we are used to. To see to believe. But there are unnumbered unseen agents out there, giving us life and comfort. To say " I don't believe in God because and don't see him" ....Is like saying I don't believe in my Mother because I can't see her....(while you're in her womb). Case closed.
@@juanrodsalas5572 worst argument ever
Ignorance of cosmology and biology is not evidence of a god. We don't deny a deity, there is not enough evidence to believe in a god
@@robmorcette4894 due to existence being infinite. No evidence to find in eternity
Many people wish to live ' for ever ' .....normally they are the
same people who get bored on a wet Sunday afternoon if
there's nothing on television....but they want " eternal life ' ! ?
understanding of the environment on the observational data and using this information for better fitting into the environment for building more efficient tools for gathering and processing information about the observable universe is the main feature of life as a whole. this is how the onservable universe is observing and understanding of itself..
Cosmos, what is your reason for, well for anything? Answer me Cosmos!
The answer is the question, the question is the answer. If there was no reason there would be no question, if there was no question there would be no reason. Godammit, I am a f*cking.......how do you spell genues? The universe is a beautiful mystery, how lucky we all are to be conscious for the blink of an eye, enjoy it while you're here, it would be a total bore if we knew everything, in fact, dare I say it would be horrifyingly meaningless. The question is the answer. Peace to my fellow time-travelers. How glorious it is to wonder.
Many thanks for the video.
Cosmic meaning or purpose? Well, one thing we seem to know for sure.
We and all humanity are literally part and parcel of the universe itself; we are conscious intelligent sentient beings who are an evolutionary and biological byproduct of star stuff.
Thus, we can say this: through us, the universe is actually contemplating its own meaning and purpose.
Help me with this please: when you use the word cosmic or cosmos", what exactly are you trying to convey when you use those words or rather what associations are evoked in your associative apparatus by those words?
If you look up the etymology of cosmic or cosmos all you will discover is that it is merely an old Greek cognate or synonym of universe, and it will avail you a little if you embark upon psychological algebra and simply substitute one unknown for another or say X = Y = Xwhere both X and Y have no value.There is little point in discovering anything about what you call cosmos or universe unless you are capable of saying what you mean to convey when you use the words universe or cosmos.
If you tell me that you have no clear notion whatsoever what associations are evoked in your associative apparatus by the words cosmos or universe, I have to tell you that it will come as no surprise to me because it plain to me that when people use the words cosmic cosmos or universe - or any universal for that matter, they have no corresponding associations evoked in the associative apparatuses which is to say they have no idea what they mean or seek to convey when they use them and it is highly likely that you will be for to tell me that you have no clear notion whatsoever of what you mean by cosmos or universe.
To make that simpler, if I ask you what you mean by cosmos or universe you will have to tell me that you have no idea whatsoever and are about to do so by signally failing to set out what you mean by cosmos or universe, for the simple reason that you have no idea, and thus cannot, as you are about to demonstrate, Moreover were I to forbid you from employing cognates or synonyms that would make your task even more difficult because it is very difficult if not impossible for human beings to set out exactly what they mean by cosmos or universe without using cognates or synonyms or resorting to psychological algebra or X = Y = X.
Our brains cannot comprehend the meaning or purpose of our and universe’s existence.
The universe can’t fit in our brains but our brains fit in the universe.
What experience have you of brains other than your own? Thus what in blue blazes is "our brains"?
What evidential basis do you have for supposing all brains to be either identical or homogenous?
The hardest question is "Why?", but for questions like this... I really agree with only Michio Kaku, there is no meaning, you have to create it yourself. Even if God exists, why did he create the Universe? Do multiple Universes exists? Are they running in some docker containers or some virtual machines? Is it just a simulation meaning to see some statistics? Is God the origin of everything or is God created by another God himself? Why?
But I agree with Robert, "creating your own meaning" doesn't reflect reality. It's nice but not satisfying!
All these folks talk a lot but just dont know :-)
Thanks for your excellent videos Robert!
Humanities life span is limited. No matter how long we last it will never be long enough The universe will go through what ever life cycle it has without us to ponder at its wonders.
If there is a purpose or intelligent design to the universe it seems quite fond of bacteria. Maybe we are just here to support the bacterial life we see as the dominate life form on this rock.
@Steven
You don't have to be the most intelligent to be the most dominate. Bacteria, in way or another controls most biology.
And why would our intelligence convey a special position or higher purpose ?
Try humanity's.
Humanity is a universal and thus imaginary as are all universals and imaginary things don't have limited lifespans - screamingly obviously for the simple reason that they don't have lives.
Looking forward to this. I personally do not think there is a reason, but I am not a theist either.
I think Russell Stannard is talking in a way like the Leibniz cosmological contingency
argument.
For knowing meaning or purpose of life " sickness unto death " written by Soren kierkegaard is very relevant.
It doesn't need a reason and neither do we. It exists by the nature of itself. And so do we. It lives in us as much as we in it. The right question would be how, not why.
I love your UA-cam videos. God created time and with it, The Big Bang.
Mikio always sounds like a motivational speaker, although I agree with ME ME ME - I need a reason for ME (my life, my existence)
Not irrelevant - because it shows the way from POINTLESS LIFE to CREATIVE LIFE.
But again: the question is wrong The cosmos exists and only its parts can have reasons (as we define reasons).
It did not begin, will not end and has no reason. I have a feeling, Robert, you are looking for something that does not exist. But your episodes may give yourself reason! Someone wrote: If you find the answers your series would be over. I think he was right. But you won't find them.
Thank you for the channel profound information! :)
Humanity, is the question.
Love, is the path, the narrow gate, and the reason.
God, above all else is the answer.
#TrueStory
Love is the reason. Yes, it's that simple.
40,000 children starve to death every day. Are you seriously suggesting that "love is the reason" for their unmitigated suffering?
It would have been nice to hear from a theologian/physicist. The one Christian interviewed was out of touch with theology in my opinion, because if God is the ground of all being, how could God have nothing to do with the big bang? If God is the creator of the universe as he says, and its sustainer, how could any part of it be fully explained (emphasis on "fully) without reference to Him?
I believe Allan Watts once said (mutatis mutandis) "We are the realm of the cosmos where the cosmos begins to become aware of itself!"
Frank has a pleasant smiling demeanour. 🙂
To get closer to truth one must needs to truly understand Plato's work, especially understanding his Socrates. Everything has a reason, from the smallest to the largest, but "God only knows", as Socrates would often exclaim. There is, indeed, an e-mail from heaven, and it's embedded in Plato's work.
I have say that I would be mildly surprised if Socrates understood Socrates
The purpose of being a human being: BEING. There are lots of obstructions to being, but optimizing it is in the inherent nature of anything: self-expression.
Whats this music at the beginning? I love it!
The purpose of life, is to be alive. :) | "Love and Work."
I sometimes think everything is life, we just do't recognize it as such. Yes. yes, the cosmos just might have a reason...
I've often thought that myself.
Surely if*everything*is "life, nothing is life, or just as Uncle Sam put it when in his cups: "if it's all right, why then nothing is right." Understanding which is a qualifying exam question and tends to separate those who can understand from those that can't. To some it is plain as day, while to others it is utterly opaque.
The question is why ask philosophical and metaphysical questions to physicists and astronomers. It is clearly outside their area of expertise. You might as well ask a mailman, lawyer or an accountant. They might even give you a much less biased answer.
It’s a nursery for conscious beings to learn and grow in.
*42*
The religious guy straight up said "I start by assuming god is true and all of my approach to science is based on trying to pigeonhole what fits". So typical.
@ 16:18 , "Only NOW" is pertaining to US, not other possible life billions of light years away...
No reason, just particles and processes 💫
the only reason the universe is there is because we can experience it
If it has a meaning, I don't know what it is.
Pleasure . That’s all. Do what ever u like that make su feel good until u die
That means anything goes
Kudos -- 444 Gematria -- 🗽
⚙️ archive.org/details/againtimemachineprintoutagaininglobally as Time and The Old Fashioned Superstition Of Money Then disSolves so we can solve society share copy and past é link the excitement
There is meaning in the question. Consciousness
I can appreciate your wanting to ask for meaning. We all ask the question on some level and with more or less expectation of an answer. But what would become of your curiosity, awe and drive to continue to seek truth, if an answer to your question was to be suddenly revealed? Who would you become if a purpose and meaning was decided for you long ago? I will argue that it is precisely because any purpose, if it exists, remains unknown to you, that you have any hope of meaning during your existence at all. And that is why religious people have over time have valued the lives of "non-believers" with so little regard. Once you believe in your devinity, what purpose is there for any life that doesn't at a bare minimum conform to your beliefs? Others become inferior, at best to be pittied or "converted" lest they present a continued challenge to your belief, at worst to be slaughtered as pestilence. Be careful what you wish for. Some truths are better left unknowable.
If you will forgive me: there are certain problems with using universal such as "we all" which is open to a rather obvious series of questions and possible objections is it not? There are obvious problems with employing universals because broadly speaking they can only possibly be imaginary or supposed.
14:34 What he just said.
Having children. That’s my contribution to the universe. If don’t do that you’ve failed
Without God there is no ultimate purpose meaning to life. My email came 12 years ago. God can fill the void
Ultimate purpose may not exist, purpose seems to be a human created concept entirely, making purpose subjective
L E existence has purpose.
@@onestepaway3232 from your point of view yes, but I personaly dont believe any religion is true and so I view it as a subjective thing, you choose to have purpose, perhaps for some it is working on yourself, like finding your inner strenghts. But some may choose not to have purpose, from my experiences most while pretending to be agents of faith have chosen their purpose to be ruining someone elses lives, so thats an example.
L E whi said anything about religion? I’m speaking about ultimate purpose and God. Religion is just a belief system doesn’t mean it is true. Completely different mindsets of thought and perspective
If it didn't have a beginning, it cant have a reason. It just is.
Having said that.... Unless it was "created purposefully"........ It still cant have a reason. It has either been present always (whatever that means?.....) or, it spontainiously popped into existence from nothing for no reason. Which I personally cant rule out..........
People often ask about the meaning of things without questioning the nature of meaning itself. WIttgenstein would say the question itself is confused.
Nando N Wittgenstein was quite confused about most things.
@@patmoran5339 Sure but if you really think about it, he's kind of right here.
@@Ndo01 Was he right to denounce all of philosophy as meaningless (including his own) and then began pontificating shortly thereafter? We do need to indeed need to find out what meaning is because without it we will never achieve true AI.
@@patmoran5339 The conclusions he drew from his own philosophy may not all be correct but the methodology is still incredibly valuable and applicable.
Nando N I think solipsism was his “method” if he had one.
I think meaning, like maths, is something we discover rather than make up, but like maths, it takes many forms. Most meaningful lives seem to be about investing in some greater whole that will live on after we do - family, country, humanity, the planet, art, science, knowledge, truth, beauty, God etc. “Ars longa, vita brevis”. IMO our individual meaning isn’t discovered by studying the physical Universe, but by knowing ourselves, our values etc. and realising them in the physical universe.
How intelligent can we really be when we continue to destroy the very planet that is keeping us alive and which we are connected to.
@Steven It's true that animals have a different intelligence, however, I have to wonder if they could choose, would they deliberately destroy that which keeps them alive?
Further more, if you take plants, for instance, there are trees in Africa, can't remember the name, that herbivores eat, and if there is a drought, they will produce a poison to prevent the total destruction of their species, in turn the herbivores will not produce the offspring and so a balance is restored. In contrast human beings, who have the capacity to choose whether to destroy this beautiful and absolutely necessary planet for our very survival, choose to destroy it. Can't eat money you know, can't breathe without oxygen, can't drink polluted water. So how are we intelligent beings? Because we know what we are doing, but choose to do it anyway? That's intelligence?
As a species we can be intelligent we just have to be patient and share the knowledge !!!
GREED OF POWER & MONEY .
TOGETHER WITH "ALL LETTING" IT HAPPEN .
@@lgm363 : Now THAT'S INTELLIGENT.
Great Comments + I watched a show on that plant , wish I Could Remember the name Too.
Why does my dog dig holes in the garden ?
He must have a reason.
Before Freud there was Voltaire who said: "We must cultivate our garden"