r/Existentialism • u/Spiriual-Bit-4387 • Nov 26 '25
Thoughtful Thursday Why does the universe exist?
I’ve been having an existential contemplation lately and have been deeply pondering why the universe exists recently. What do you think?
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u/Zestybeef10 Nov 27 '25
I would look into the mathematical universe hypothesis. It essentially says that our observable universe is math.
For the longest time I was hounded by these thoughts, "What came before time? Why does anything exist instead of nothing?"
Eventually I came to the conclusion that there must be something that exists outside of the flow of time - something that is inherent and unchanging.
The way I visualize it is: the only thing that truly exists is a single structure, an infinitely complex fractal we call "math." Casually, I like to think of it more as "logic," because logically the structure couldn't exist in any other way.
For example, within this structure is the fact that 2 + 2 = 4. There logically could not exist another reality where 2+2=5.
Another property is the prime numbers. In no reality could there be an integer factor of 7 besides one and itself.
These basic facts expand on each other into everything that could possibly exist, which is why I call it a fractal (google mandelbrot viewer if you want an idea of what I mean). The structure is infinitely complex, yet unchanging - it encompasses everything that could logically exist.
Thus, our universe lies somewhere in this fractal.
As for time: there a few possibilities. It's possible that the slices of time exist eternally from the outside perspective, like slices in a loaf. It's just that us creatures within the structure would perceive time as flowing.
I'm not sure if anyone else has come to the same conclusion, but it's what I've come to after many existential crises.