Book: Why does our world exist? Existential Detective

Compared with the eternal cosmos in the view of the ancients, our own universe is rather new: it is about 14 billion years old. And its future may also have a limit. According to modern cosmological concepts, after a long existence, it is destined either to suddenly disappear as a result of the Great Compression, or gradually turn into a dark and cold Nothingness. The temporary finiteness of our world (today it is, yesterday it was not yet, and tomorrow it will not be) makes its existence unreliable and dependent on circumstances - as well as mysterious. It seems that a world that stands on a solid ontological foundation should not behave in this way, but should be eternal and imperishable. Such a world, unlike the finite universe of the Big Bang, would look self-sufficient and could even contain the reason for its own existence.

Maybe the world exists precisely because in general it is better than nothing? Some philosophers think so. They call themselves "axiarchists" (from the Greek "value is the most important!") and argue that space could have emerged in response to the need for value. If they are right, then the world (and our existence in it) may be better than we think. We should take a closer look around to notice its subtle virtues – for example, hidden harmonies and small joys.

Simplicity is highly regarded in science. When competing scientific theories are equally validated by experience, scientists choose the simpler one — the one that postulates the fewest causally independent entities and properties in accordance with a principle known as Occam's razor. And not only because simpler theories are prettier or easier to use. Simplicity is considered a sign of the likelihood of a theory, its proximity to the truth. It is believed that explaining requires complex realities, not simple ones. And there is no simpler reality than World Zero.