Philosophy           How Is All This Even Possible?       17 August 2024


   Today, as is customary after yet another challenging work week, I
   visited the landscape park in Wörlitz, near Dessau, once again.  In
   this park, some time ago, I discovered something akin to miniature
   catacombs - a system of narrow corridors connecting artificial
   underground chambers with small outdoor enclaves.  I dubbed this
   place "The Sanctuary."  It's a perfect spot for some solitude and
   contemplation.  Hardly anyone visits this area, likely because
   tourists tend to overlook it, perhaps due to its somewhat
   inconvenient location in the park.  Today, I decided to take a break
   there and mull over the thoughts that have occupied me for the past
   fortnight.

   For as long as I can remember, since my youth, three questions have
   intrigued me the most: what is the meaning of life, where does human
   phenomenal experience come from, and how is it even possible for the
   universe to exist?  I found an answer to the first question
   relatively quickly, and it still satisfies me: there is no meaning to
   life, nor does one need it.  We pay this price for the freedom we
   possess.  It's crucial to remember that the universe itself has no
   purpose; it simply exists.  The Earth has no purpose, and neither
   does life on Earth.  It's just a rock floating in space, somewhat
   covered in mould due to a lack of proper care.  And humans - they
   just exist too.  We cannot inherit from the world what it does not
   have.  And I find that remarkable.

   The question of how phenomenal experience is possible, where this
   "selfhood" comes from, why I am me and not someone else, intrigued me
   far more.  However, to my great regret, I was born too early, and
   scientists still don't have an answer as to why humans can experience
   qualia.  I once even encountered a hypothesis suggesting that
   consciousness could be a fundamental mechanism of our world, akin to
   gravity or the speed of light.  Occam's Razor at work.  The problem
   now is that each of us knows qualia because we experience it, yet no
   one can explain why this experience is possible.  That's the way
   things stand.  For this reason, I often jokingly refer to people as
   walking clumps of the universe's consciousness.

   Now, to the main point.  How is it even possible for the world to
   exist?  Why is it here?  Okay, the Big Bang and all that.  Let's
   assume that's the answer to "how."  But why did it happen?  In my
   childhood, my parents tried to instil religious beliefs in me, but
   the theological approach doesn't change the picture; in that case, we
   simply say, "Well, the world exists because God created it."  But
   who, then, created God?  Or rather, why is His existence possible?
   Essentially, we return to the starting point, merely replacing
   "world" with "God."  God becomes an unnecessary entity here, so once
   again, we'll use Occam's Razor and leave the question as it is: "Why
   is the existence of the world possible?"

   Arthur Schopenhauer once said, "Those who don't wonder about the
   contingency of their existence, and the contingency of the world's
   existence, are mentally deficient."  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom I've
   written about before, echoes this sentiment, politely reminding us
   that if we dare to imagine the number of fools surrounding us, we
   would be off by an order of magnitude.  Considering the statements of
   these two esteemed gentlemen, the picture becomes rather bleak.
   Every time, I am deeply struck by the thought, which randomly comes
   to me during a walk, of why the existence of the world is even
   possible, why it is here.  And every time, I am saddened by the
   likelihood that humanity will never be able to provide a definitive
   answer to this question.





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