The Reason Things Exist

I am unsure where to post this, so I will do it here.

During December of last year (2007), I had an incredible revelation about how things exist (although not why). I will explain.

I was reading a book entitled Lectures on Ancient Philosophy by Manly P. Hall. The first chapter was entitled something like "Nature of the Absolute" and was all about the nature of existence. It said that the ancients called the Absolute (or existence) the All and the Nothing, and it is incomprehensible to us. It also asserted that the ancients believed existence to manifest in three stages:

Void -> Spirit -> Matter

So the first step of existence is Nothing. The Void. Before anything ever manifests. The second step is called the Spirit, which I interpret to be the Metaphysical, and the third step, Matter, is what I interpret as the Physical.

To demonstrate this principle, I will make an analogy:

before you physically pick up a pen, you must have the concept of it (the metaphysical aspect of picking up a pen) in your mind first.

So I meditated upon this idea for a while, and came to the following realization:

Existence depended on dualities.

On the metaphysical level, all concepts depend upon opposites to exist. If there was no concept of long, there cannot be a concept of short (or not-long). If there was no concept of bright, there cannot be a concept of dark (or not-bright), and so on. This is true for the concept of anything. To know what a conceptual "chair" is, one must also know what a conceptual "chair" is not (or a not-chair). If you do not know what a "chair" is, then you also can't know what a "chair" isn't. So, thus, all things in the Metaphysical exist because of dualities and are dependent upon this to exist.

Then what about the Physical? Well, that is easy. Matter vs. anti-matter, of course. And when they interact, they "annihilate" or basically cancel each other out to form pure energy (which I believe to be the fundamental building block of all things; E=MC^2, meaning all matter is energy, and I believe thoughts are also energy, and thus all things are interrelated through energy [collective conciousness?]).

So essentially, all things exist because they have an opposite on which they depend upon to exist. This is also why existence is Everything and Nothing at the same time. It is Everything in that it exists, but it is also Nothing in that it is balanced and is still equal to the Nothing. Basically, existence is just a manipulation of the Void.

This is probably the most fundamental principle in the world. All things seek equilibrium. In fact, the reason math works is that it is based upon this same principle: the equal sign, which basically means one side is the opposite of the other (not that two sides are equal, which is a common misconception). You can have 0 = 0 or x = x, and you can manipulate it all however you want as long as both sides is balanced... and thus is the way of the universe (conservation of energy/matter comes to mind)


I hope I explained this well and coherently. I am willing to answer any questions on this subject, and will gladly debate.


-Edit-

Ok new part to this theory. Just had a crazy idea. First I will have to declare energy to be completely metaphysical (or Spirit) and is apart from our physical world, though both exist together. Energy is what moves our world, and has existed before the physical did. Thoughts are energy. We move because of energy. But we can never see or touch energy. We can see or feel or detect the effects of energy, but we will never see or touch energy itself. If you knock a can over, you can see the effects of energy, but you do not see the energy.

So instead of saying that matter is energy slowed down or something, I am thinking that matter can instead REVERT to energy. That is why when matter and anti-matter interact they annihilate and no longer exist physically and escape as photons, or pure concentrated energy. We perceive the effects of this energy as light, but it light itself is not the energy.

Hold on, I will have to think this through some more.

[edit on 9-7-2008 by italkyoulisten]

There actually is a philosophy board. I'd recommend that you'd post this topic here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

There is no 'short'; only absence of 'long.'

There is no 'dark'; only absence of light.

There is no chair; only absence of 'not chair'.

Yes, this should go in the philosophy forum. Maybe a mod will move it. In any case, carry on, I like where you are going with this.

so you saying that the universe trying to balance itself out creates matter or life to balance the void, something from nothing

void = existence

reply to post by TheComte


Hmm, is it possible for me to move this? or do I have to repost it?

Also, in my opinion, and what I was trying to say, is that

Long and Short do exist, but Long can't exist without Short, and Short can't exist without Long; they are interdependent. Either both exist, or neither. One exists only because the other does.

You might want to read my topic "Origin of Place" and "Lights. Camera. Action."

I see an error in what you're saying with void. I mean, you're implying existence of something was always there before void if void manifested. I mean, what did void delete then?

My topics rather deal with "place" not being created ever, but being originally eternal.

Originally posted by tankthinker
so you saying that the universe trying to balance itself out creates matter or life to balance the void, something from nothing

void = existence

Kind of. I am trying to say that one thing exists only because it has an opposite to cancel it out, so that it is still the Void, so we are always equal to nothing at the same time, because of the opposite. Long + Short = Nothing; Big + Small = Nothing

[edit on 9-7-2008 by italkyoulisten]

reply to post by Mabus


Well I was trying to say that existence is still equal to the Void, because they cancel each other out. I am not sure if existence came after the Void, but existence is always still equal to the Void. There can be infinite matter as long as there is also infinite anti-matter. There can be infinite concepts as long as its opposites exist, so that everything is always still equal to the Void. Just like any x=y equation is always the same as 0=0.

I guess I should clarify that it was just what the book said that got me thinking. Maybe it is right, but I'll have to figure out why.

But I will definitely check out your topic.

[edit on 9-7-2008 by italkyoulisten]

I've heard this theory before and it is an interesting idea. But I always have to ask one question about a dual existence:

How would this apply to God? Not a religious God as in a spirit or being, but as in the 'most-high' God. The ultimate will of all things, if you will. I do not know you views on God, but would you agree that God(good) can exist without evil?

For information on the Void - which I believe is not "nothing," per se, but the potential of everything (giving the duality of Manifest/Not Manifest), I highly recommend watching the vids in this thread:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I will say that there are a total of eight hours of presentation, but I cannot begin to express how glad I am that I took the time to watch! It's all in layman's terms, easy to follow and AWESOME in the material it presents.

Watch 1/2 an hour a day for a couple of weeks or so. [grin]