The goal of the project “Access to all knowledge” is to cover everything that we know and everything that could be known.

So far, Universe is defined as totality of everything:

  • Dictionary: “the totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena throughout space; the cosmos; macrocosm.”
  • Wikipedia: ” all of space and time[a] and their contents,[10] including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy”.

However, as soon as we bring in “multiverses”, the definition of “all totality” fails. In addition, the connotation o the term “Universe” is related to “our” universe or a “specific” universe as these alternate definitions at Dictionary state:

  • the whole world, especially with reference to humanity
  • a world or sphere in which something exists or prevails
  • Statistics. the entire population under study.

We aim to get and provide access to knowledge about all possible universes. Then, is existence a better term for us? Let us check the Dictionary definitions:

  • the state or fact of existing; being.
  • all that exists

Wikipedia says:

  • Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with physical or mental reality.
  • In philosophy, it refers to the ontological property of being.

It seems, largely the term “existence” has been “hijacked” by Ontology. Wikipedia states (without any attribution):

Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology deals with questions concerning what things or entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such things or entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences.

Though there are other schools of thought like Materialism, Idealism and Scholasticism that define existence in difference ways.

Conclusion: It can be argued that when try to study the existence of anything – whether a universe or multiverses or being or reality – we are making the term “existence” as the mother of everything.

The term “Reality is another contender when we are searching for the most accurate term to describe “everything”.  The Wikipedia refers to Oxford dictionary to define reality:

  • Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent, as opposed to that which is merely imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence

Tanya Lewis in her piece “Reality Check: Is Our Universe Real?”, questions it all and concludes that maybe it does not matter:

All of these views of the world — those that we perceive in our minds, and those that physicists discover in the universe — are flavors of reality. What humans perceive as reality may be no more than an illusion. But in the end, maybe that doesn’t matter.

We are not done yet – there is another term “Consciousness” – in this article “Does the Universe Exist if We’re Not Looking?”, Tim Fogler shares summarizes views of John Wheeler as:

Human consciousness shapes not only the present but the past as well.

Conclusion: This is interesting – however, if this theory is true then we would know that consciousness is the source of existence. Similarly we can debate on all other terms – till we find something better, let us stick to the term existence and dedicate this project to study of all existence.

Further Reading:

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