Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'New Scientist articles' and 'Universals'

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3 ideas

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 5. Reason for Existence
Current physics says matter and antimatter should have reduced to light at the big bang [New Sci.]
     Full Idea: Our best theories of physics imply we shouldn't be here. The big bang ought to have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter particles, which would have almost immediately annihilated each other, leaving nothing but light.
     From: New Scientist writers (New Scientist articles [2013], 2015.05.23)
     A reaction: This is not, of course, a rejection of physics, but a puzzle about the current standard model of physics.
CP violation shows a decay imbalance in matter and antimatter, leading to matter's dominance [New Sci.]
     Full Idea: The phenomenon of charge-parity (CP) violation says that under certain circumstances antiparticles decay at different rates from their matter counterpart. ...This might explain matter's dominance in the universe, but the effect is too small.
     From: New Scientist writers (New Scientist articles [2013], 2015.05.23)
     A reaction: Physicists are currently studying CP violations, hoping to explain why there is any matter in the universe. This will not, I presume, explain why matter and antimatter arrived in the first place.
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 1. Ontologies
Existence theories must match experience, possibility, logic and knowledge, and not be self-defeating [Moreland]
     Full Idea: A theory of existence should 1) be consistent with what actually exists, 2) be consistent with what could exist, 3) not make existence impossible (e.g. in space-time), 4) not violate logic, 5) make knowing the theory possible.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.6)
     A reaction: A nice bit of metaphilosophical analysis. I still doubt whether a theory of existence is possible (something has to be 'given' a priori), but this is a good place to start the attempt.