a few questions...

feeling insignificant



the FQXi, an organization striving to understand the foundations of physics and cosmology, is looking for questions for an essay contest. they propose:

• What is the universe made of?
• Is Nature continuous or discrete?
• Why the quantum?
• Physics and philosophy: How does one help the other?
• Origin of the fundamental constants
• Origin of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
• Emergence in physics
• Paradoxes in physics
• Physics, Mathematics, and Reality
• Physics, Knowledge, and Information

i would add:

• why does anything exist ("why is there something rather than nothing? for nothingness is simpler and easier than anything" - von Leibniz)?
• what is the origin of everything?
• how much of reality is unobservable (multiverse, many worlds, higher dimensions, dark energy, supersymmetrical particles, ...)
• why three spatial dimensions?
• what is the nature of time (fundamental or emergent, an illusion, arrow of time and the low entropy of the early universe, ...)?
• what are laws of nature?
• why is there a structure-forming and self-organizing process and how did it arise and how does it function?
• why is complex behaviour the result of simple rules?
• are there transcendental, "supernatural" or psi phenomena, or: is there an non-physical level of reality?
  
• is there a unifying "theory of everything" to be discovered?
• is there a theory of quantum gravity to be discovered?
  
• why does macro-reality appear so well-ordered whilst the quantum realm is so bizarre (non-locality, observation/measurement, uncertainty, duality, entanglement, delayed choice, superpositions, probabilistic nature, ...)?
• will there ever be a conclusive interpretation of quantum theory?
  
• why (special) relativity (alternatively: why a constant speed of light)?
  
• is space and time quantized?
• is reality intrinsically finite, or: does infinity really exist outside the human mind?
  
• does a physical higgs boson exist (my conspiracy theory says no;-)?
• why a big bang and an expanding universe?
• at what point in the evolution of the cosmos did the possibility of life (and consciousness) first become apparent?
  
• why are scaling-law relations and distributions ubiquitous in complex systems?
  

and:

• what can we know?
• why were the attempts to found science on common sense notions (as seen in the programs of logical empiricism and critical rationalism) unsuccessful?
• why gödel's theorems?
• do the clay institutes' millennium problems have solutions?
  
• what is the mind matter link?
• why the correspondence between inner and outer reality (the mind's ability to devise formal thought systems and the universes propensity to be described by them, e.g., wigner's unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics) or: why has science been so fantastically successful at describing reality?
• why is science producing amazing technology at accelerating speed?
• why life?
• why death?
• does any non-physical entity or information content continue to exist after physical death?
• what about (temperature- or chemically-induced) suspended animation?
• what is the biological basis for aging and what determines the lifespan of healthy organisms (longevity)?
  
• why consciousness?
• is there a model of the mind or theory of the brain to be discovered?
• is there free will?
• does a true mystical or enlightened state of mind exist?
  
• why information processing (from dna to consciousness and computers)?
• is there a meaning to existence?
• is there a creating or omnipotent entity?
• do we live in a simulation?
• are there absolutes (e.g., good and evil)?
• why is life so improbable (fine-tuning of physical constants, birth of stars, supernovae fusing heavy elements, carbon's unique bonding properties, right temperature conditions, anomalies of water, ...)?
  
• were the dozen or so extinction events in the history of life imperative for the emergence of humans?
• how will life look in 3 billion years (assuming it doesn't get annihilated)
• will the amount of suffering experienced by living creatures on earth ever decrease?
• will the human race ever reach a level of sustainability with the environment?
• will the human race ever manifest collective intelligence?
• will theology ever be superseded?

some little things life has taught me...

mood: inspired depending what your personal goals are in life, some strategies work better than others...

you are not the center of the universe

• be critical towards your cultural and religious imprintings: they could be far from ideal, and simply represent idiosyncratic artifacts from the past
  
• don't take yourself too seriously: a little distance to ones own ego can work wonders (and besides, the universe existed for roughly 14 billion years before your birth, and the last discernible structure in it will probably cease to exist after 10 to the power of 23 years after your death)
• don't expect your perception of reality to be too representative of reality itself (psychopathology, cognitive biases, psychedelic drugs)
  
• don't expect your knowledge and understanding of things to give you more than a glimpse of reality: you cannot possibly know and understand everything
• reality is perhaps more bizarre than anyone ever guessed (non-locality, quantization, measurement, duality, uncertainty, entanglement, time dilation, arrow of time, dark matter and energy, self-organization, emergence, life, death, consciousness, etc. without even mentioning multiverses and possibilities of higher dimensional space and/or time)
  
• allow for the possibility, that all your opinions and points of views could be wrong
• dogmas have never and will never work
• the best way to appreciate the arbitrariness of your socio-religious background and respect other takes is by traveling

you are the center of your universe

• take responsibility: don't expect others to think for you
• learn to accept and respect yourself
  
• your mind creates your experience of reality: you have total freedom in your mind
  
• you can always choose your inner reactions to impulses from the outer world
• appreciate the enigma of existence: every day you wake up in a structured and self-organizing reality, and rediscover yourself, a thinking, sentient entity full of memories from the past
  
• appreciate the improbability of existence: changing the values of fundamental physical constants just a little would most probably result in unstructured mess
  
• everything in the universe expresses the universe

getting into the right state of mind

• get a sense of humor
  
• once in a while, stop and think about how you are living your life, and if it's what you really want
• happiness is a state of being/mind: your only chance of finding it is within yourself
• modesty, honesty, sincerity can get you a long way
• let go: you can't control everything anyway
• be aware of your own mortality: relax and accept the only thing you can know for sure
  
• open your mind to change: conservatism and paranoia about new things doesn't get you far in a universe where everything is constantly changing
• good/bad or right/wrong are very relative attributes and often in the eye of the beholder
• there is no absolute evil
• assume that all people act to the best of their possibilities (even if the outcome of their decisions are disastrous), and that you would be the same, given their biography and neurochemistry
• relax, kick back and chill out once in a while
• dream of a better future
• be the change you want to see in the world
• don't be ignorant

interacting

• respect other opinions
• don't take stuff personal
  
• it is very easy and rewarding to be nice/helpful/compassionate to other people
• listen more, talk less
• respect every aspect of life: from plants, to insects to animals, to human beings of other faith/race/...
• the strong should protect the weak
• value friendship
• don't worry about what others think about you
• violence is really the very last resort; and mostly, just your inner commitment to defend yourself to the very end, prevents you from having to actually do this

lifestyle

• have fun
  
• resist the temptation to blindly follow the masses: many people doing stupid things isn't a justification for anything
• limit addictions
• you don't have to be evil to make money, or be a bastard to get ahead in life
• a more or less healthy lifestyle helps: a little movement, a somewhat balanced diet, and a (pragmatic) optimistic mindset can work wonders
  
• materialism is a bad strategy if you're looking for happiness
• as already mentioned, go travel
• the more you spend time getting educated, the better you can approximate the big picture
  
• did you know, lifestyles don't necessarily come pre-tailored: you can choose and combine elements from any pop- or subculture you like
• ever think about ecology and sustainability, i.e., your footprint?
• ever consider vegetarianism? (update over 7 years later: how about considering veganism? you know, from a sustainability, ethical, and health perspective?)