He and the book were on the LA Times bestseller list during the last quarter of 2012, and the first quarter of 2013. It's a classical philosophical question. This is the idea that our universe is not the only one in existence. But that's to be expected & doesn't diminish the pleasure of the quest. Holt ponders that most enduring & impossible of questions: why is there something rather than nothing. Hard to imagine now, but it’s true. Scientists Studying EDM To Find Why Everything In The Universe Exists Somehow, at the beginning of time, there was an imbalance of matter and antimatter. (Why else would "Why Does the World Exist?" : An Existential Detective Story” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The whole group of universes, if there are indeed more than one, is commonly called the multiverse. This book helped clarify for me that I’m much more interested in the whats and hows of existence than the why of it. Holt was never going to get much beyond a detailed description of "what is" or "why what is is the way it is," when the book's central question is actually "Why is there something. Philosophical reasoning, according to Thomas, is sufficient by itself, without faith or revelation, to demonstrate that God exists. Engaging and thoughtful and deftly told (probably all these adjectives are used in the blurbs, but in this case they're accurate). the real things those matters, let say for an electron, are (-1, 1/2, 9.10938356 × 10^-31, etc) which represent charge, spin, and mass respectively. William James called the question of existence "the darkest in all philosohpy." Or at least I thought it was until I read the book. The author seems very willing to travel, since he crossed the Atlantic to Paris & London several times. Philosophy used to be the king of science. Somewhat disappointing, in large part because of its approach, which entails attempting to answer an ontological/metaphysical question by asking analytical philosophers and physical scientists. Part of this is my fault: I forced myself through the equally terrible Assholes: A Theory last year and should know by now that navel-gazing logic-heavy philosophical books based around thought experiments are not my cup of tea. Ancient philosophers didn’t focus too much on what Heidegger [3] called the “funda- mental question of metaphysics” and Gru¨nbaum [4] has dubbed the “Primordial Existential Inconclusive as any such book must be, so don't pick it up expecting one definitive version of an answer. Midway through the book, however, I began to wonder why all the philosophers, scientists or simply very smart peop. Why is there something instead of nothing? Jim Holt’s recent book, Why Does the World Exist? Jim Holt’s recent book, Why Does the World Exist? All well & good & I enjoyed the ride, even though one should know from the outset that nothing will be decided. Why Does the World Exist? Those who share this mood with Holt, at least from time to time, will almost certainly find this to be an entertaining and thought-provoking book. It’s a peripatetic book, one that only occasionally seems really … This all-inclusive being does not exist and cannot exist. 10 mysteries of the universe: Why does anything exist at all? p180 ABC Television 20/20 Interview, 1989 "It is difficult to discuss the beginning of the universe without mentioning the concept of God. A nice, well written survey of contemporary metaphysics/science, mostly trying to explain "why there is something rather than nothing". i.e. I really, really don't like not finishing books, so congratulations to Mr. Holt for being one of the chosen few (I gave up with about 90 pages to go). If Jim Holt's deft and consuming Why Does the World The s. "Why is there a world rather than nothing at all?" It does not know who or how. Here’s my view. The New York Review of Books - What Can You Really Know? But many cosmologists now believe there are other “universes”, and perhaps our universe arose from one of them. See the article here: In “Why Does the World Exist?,” Jim Holt, an elegant and witty writer comfortably at home in the problem’s weird interzone between philosophy and scientific cosmology, sets out in search of such answers. It is philosophically engaging and highly informative. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. So the universe should be capable of making its own space, time and complexity. This is becoming tedious. Following in the footsteps of Christopher Hitchens, Roger Penrose, and even Stephen Hawking, Jim Holt now enters this fractious debate with his lively and deeply informed narrative that traces the latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. Well it's said that every thing has its reasons, sometimes you can figure it some times you can't. One is far likely to be left with some questions which one hopes Jim would have asked, but didn't- which is a wonderful testament to the genius of this book, since Jim is likely to be smarter than any of his readers. by Jim Holt". Over the last few centuries, however, the divide between science and philosophy has grown larger and more irreconcilable, even while science overwhelmingly surpassed philosophy in importance. “That question,” Deutsch says, “could only be answered by finding a more encompassing fabric of which the physical multiverse was a part. is one of the very best popular philosophy books I have ever read. remains the darkest and most enduring of all metaphysical mysteries. Jim Holt is an excellent writer who can explain philosophical, scientific and existential themes with skill. is an intellectual quest of one the most intriguing philosophical questions, "Why Does the World Exist". Why, Holt wonders, does the multiverse exist, if the multiverse is the answer to why the world exists? : An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt "Why Does the World Exist?" Holt ponders that most enduring & impossible of questions: why is there something rather than nothing. As Jim Holt tells it, Martin Amis once remarked in an interview that we're about 5 Einsteins away from answering the question of why things exist and how the universe popped into being. I haven't argued with a book as much as this one.....ever. their properties like charge, mass, spin etc are also just indicative of certain interaction they engage with. Sidney Morgenbesser, a much-beloved professor of philosophy at Columbia University, renowned for his aphoristic wisdom, was once asked, “Why is there something, rather than nothing?” “If there were nothing,” Morgenbesser immediately replied, “you’d … : An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt "Why Does the World Exist?" I have to assume that an exclusionary principle operated at the level of personal inclination, or disinclination, as it were. their properties like charge, mass, spin etc are also just indicative of certain interaction they engage with. “The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. This is the idea that our universe is not the only one in existence. There could not be a causal explanation of why the Universe exists, why there are any laws of nature, or why these laws are as they are. It has become completely passé, if not commercially unviable, to begin a book with a thesis and spend the chapters that follow attempting to prove it with logic and evidence. ( CC0) Let the unpacking began. Why is there a world, why are we in it, and why is there something rather than nothing at all? He questions the idea that there is a world that encompasses everything like a container life, the universe, and ev 10 mysteries of the universe: Why does anything exist at all? Cleveland Plain Dealer. Because its author poured himself a cup of coffee the other morning and sat down in front of the computer to write it. Time spent with an old friend. "National Book Critics Circle Names 2012 Award Finalists", "Review of Jim Holt's Why Does the World Exist? In this highly original new book, the philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. In this excerpt from his new book, Our Mathematical Universe, M.I.T. Because of my background, the philosophy felt a little basic, but a lot of the physics were engaging and new, and seeing them together was a nice treat. :An Existential Detective Story, tackles the question that Martin Heidegger characterized as the greatest in all philosophy and William James called the darkest in all philosophy—why is there something rather than nothing? by Liveright Publishing Corporation. Altogether: this is nice and worth checking out, and there's probably a lot for you here unless you're a specialist in both physics and metaphysics... which, well, I doubt many people are, and even then it might do a good job summarizing and contextualizing a lot of the major issues. Another complication in the understanding of time is demonstrated by Lee Smolin's 2013 book Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, in which he argues that science does (as the mystics claim) treat time as an illusion. same goes for quark as well. Why Does the World Exist? By then I found that I was rapidly losing interest in a very important question: why does the world exist? Taking the thought to heart, he gave himself the task of talking to a succession of experts--particle physicists, theologians, philosophers, cosmologists, mystics, and a great writer, heavy thinkers all--who he hoped would prove to be one or two or three of those Einsteins shining a light down the path toward the answer. The evolution of the Universe from the big bang to the present. Because the universe also began as a singularity, time itself could not … All told, Why Does the World Exist? [1][2][3][4], A central question of the book is 'Why is there something rather than nothing? What?! An intriguing and hopeless search for the meaning of existence. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. Jim Holt is a longtime contributor to the, “Having just enough life to enjoy being dead.”, “In 1921, a New York rabbi asked Einstein if he believed in God. it was taught by a complete asshole whose only pleasure was ridiculing and tormenting others. : An Existential Detective Story . Profssor Parfit is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford He is the author of … Actually more like 4.5. Sadly, the book sheds no light on the question. Why does the universe exist? As he pieces together a solution--one that sheds new light on the question of God and the meaning of existence--he offers brisk philosophical asides on time and eternity, consciousness, and the arithmetic of nothingness. Hawking's latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The Washington Post Notable Non-Fiction of 2013 “I can imagine few more enjoyable ways of thinking than to read this book.”—Sarah Bakewell, New York Times Book Review , front-page review, Why Does the World Exist?, An Existential Detective Story, Jim Holt, 9780871403599 It's also referred to as "parallel universe theory." Search Results for “why-the-universe-exists” – PDF Search Engine Our best theories predict that all the matter in the universe should have been destroyed as soon as it existed. True to the story I missed it by like .1 of a point. Hurray for Jim Holt, who cracks our formulaic stupor with his crisp, jolly new book, Why Does the World Exist? Taking the thought to heart, he gave himself the task of talking to a succession of experts--particle physicists, theologians, philosophers, cosmologists, mystics, and a great writer, heavy thinkers all--who he hoped would prove. Why Does the Universe Exist and Other Things We Cannot Know. We asked the... "Why is there a world rather than nothing at all?" Unlike many, Jim is able to convey his reverence for some of the people he speaks with, and he does not put words in their mouths - far from it. As soon as you ask why there is something instead of nothing, you have gone beyond science. Following in the footsteps of Christopher Hitchens, Roger Penrose, and even Stephen Hawking, Jim Holt now enters this fractious debate with his lively and deeply informed narrative that traces the latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. It began with the big bang almost 14 billion years ago. Because the universe also began as a singularity, time itself could not … space, time and complexity. Hadoualex/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET If I were a scientist, I'd stick to the Goldman Sachs principle: bet on both sides. The book was also a 2012 National Book Critics Award finalist for nonfiction. This supremely unimportant book raises three deep and troubling questions. Why Does the World Exist?, By Jim Holt. Philosopher and author Jim Holt plays the role of the inquisitive detective who is on a mission to answer the ultimate question of existence. In this excerpt from his new book, Our Mathematical Universe, M.I.T. It was paining me to get through this to begin with, because at the end of the day, though armed with plenty of jargon and intimidating vocabulary, Jim Holt is a bad writer, plain and simple; when I realized that in this guy's oh-so-noble quest to get to the bottom of no less comprehensive a question than why the world exists, he didn't deem it necessary to interview, cite, consult, credit, or indeed acknowledge a single person who wasn't a white man, I was done. We’d love your help. This review of contemporary thinking on the question of existence represents the best of North American intellectual journalism where the writer tries to represent the intelligent 'ordinary joe' in his search for knowledge. 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