I've heard tell that the most "basic question" that we can try to answer is "why is there something rather than nothing?" (Other's might think the most basic question is "why won't my willie let me alone," but let's ignore that one for this discussion.)
It seems that many people cannot understand why there is a universe at all (I'm in that group -- I accept it, but don't understand it).
Everyone, as I understand it, agrees that "nothing comes from nothing." (I'm not sure, but I think that makes some kind of sense...but
Yet, here we are, and all we curious humans want to know why and how we got here.
How do you approach this? Most of humanity (on the numbers, I'd say "virtually all" of humanity) has decided that there must be something "outside," something "not this," that caused our existence.
But on what basis do you suppose that? Is it wrong to ask, if our universe, our existence is impossible, "what makes an outside cause possible?" Where did it come from, why does it exist, what kind of thing is it that existed and plotted creation when there was -- literally -- nothing but it?
The question I am trying to ask -- for anyone who would like to try actually "philosophising," is simply this: "why can't something exist without something to cause it to exist, and yet the cause can exist without a cause?"
This is an exercise in philosophy. Do your best.
The simple explanation is connected to humans having two centers of consciousness; the inner self and the ego. The inner self is much older. It is connected to our DNA and the evolutionary based operating system of the brain. It is the center of our collective human nature; the CPU that defines us as a species. All animals have an inner self; their own genetic center of consciousness.
Humans are unique on earth in that we also have a secondary center; the ego. The ego, which spun off from the inner self, is very new in terms of evolution. It, like a moon, consolidated somewhere about 6-10K years ago with the rise of civilization. The biblical claim of will and choice refers to the ego, having a secondary POV, that can be different from the inner self. It allow humans to choose natural or unnatural behavior, with unnatural both progressive or regressive to instinct. As an analogy, the small child may follow the parents until a certain age, then they strive to become more free standing. The same was true of the ego and inner self; paradise and then loss of paradise.
Whereas our inner self is already internally programmed via our human DNA, through evolution; natural human instinct, the ego is more externally programmed, through learned knowledge; culture and our unique experiences in culture and nature. The ego appears to have consolidated with the rise of civilization. Humans started to deny tens of thousands of years of evolutionary instinct as wanderers and gatherers; choice and will appear. The Bible dating actually coincides with the the rise of the secondary; ego, where one had a choice; God; inner self and instinct, or learned knowledge of good and evil.
By having two centers of consciousness, we can become split brained with each center going in a different way. For example, sex may be natural but culture imposes limits. There is an urge, from the inner self to unite the brain; find a balance like marriage. But since the inner self is often unconscious, it projects itself outwardly, into the environment, more in line with ego expectations; need to learn from the outside. Questions of existence and God are often connected to the inner self and the urge of the ego to find its creator, since the ego is a spin off from the inner self.
As a loose analogy, cover one eye and look at the world. We can see the same things as two eyes, but we will loose our depth perception, which gives reality its 3-D nature. Cause and affect is 2-D. If we uncover the other eye, we will see the same things, but now there is more fidelity to reality; stereo speakers; 3-D. Both eyes and ears can see or hear the same sources, but at slightly different angles, adds depth to outer reality. Deeper questions of existence, beyond the ego; beyond learned knowledge and cause and affect are sensed, since the other eye and ear of the inner self periodically opens up, to give us an intuitive sense of what may be.
The inner self and natural human instinct, which came from evolution, is a time average perception of hard reality over eons. It is not like the ego which is more fly by night, based on the latest cultural fad. The inner self; its own eyes and ears, have evolved within eternity, in essence. It has this deeper perception, that the ego can sometime sense, but which it expects to find ourself itself; projected into science and philosophy. Developing higher human potential will require the ego rediscover inner self. This is often symbolizes as God living among men. A good primer Book is the "Undiscovered Self" by Carl Jung.
If you ever wondered how they build the pyramids, with primitive science, but with so much precision, it was not the projection of Aliens often used by the ego. Rather it was the inner self becoming fully conscious; do the conceptual and data crunching. The value of the ego, is its secondary POV has added a new type of data to the evolution of the inner self; more stereo, with its operating system of the inner self able to advance, quicker, in quantum steps, with newer fidelity.
