Does all things exist all the time?

Question

or do they only exist when they are "observed" by something else that they exist?

Are we creating the world by observation?

I see your point, but you knew the tennis ball was behind the trash can by observing it go there. That really isn't proof. There really is no proof that things exist outside of observation, at least that I am aware of.

Answer 1

matter always exist, but keeps changing form. When something dies for example, it will be no longer, but its atoms will be around forever in one form or another.

Answer 2

I have thought about this when I was young a lot.
If there is a stone deep deep under the ground, then no-one can see it. ... Is the stone then there ?, you will only know if it is really there if you go diggeing , then you will see it, and you then conclude, it was there even before i start digge=ing.
If you didnt find a stone, well then it was not there . But in both cases you can not be sure. god knows how stones behave if they are not being observed...

Do you also wonder if there is no-one to admire the stone, the planets, the stars , the sun , that then it is of 'no-use' to say that they exist , since no-one can see them ... I think that is true, although they might exist , no-one will know

Good luck with your quest.


Does all things exist all the time?
or do they only exist when they are "observed" by something else that they exist?

Additional Details

13 minutes ago
"Are we creating the world by observation ?"
Probably not, but i can not find a reason why .

Answer 3

Many philosophers have tried to answer this question. Take Descartes for example. He stated that the only thing we can truly know is that our minds exist. His famous quote, "I think, therefore I am," tells us that we know we exist.

Now as for everything else, we can't truly know for a fact that anything else really exists, even if we are observing it. Take the matrix for example, everyone in the virtual world called, "The Matrix," thought their world was real, however it was actually just a bunch of zeros and ones being interpreted by the human mind as real. For all I know this entire universe could be made up by my mind. All the people, all the technology, all matter could be fabrications of what my mind would think a universe should be like.

Now after telling you that we can't know that anything exists, we can however have faith. When I wake up in the morning I have faith that the sun will come up. I don't know this for a fact, but I do have faith it will happen. The universe is a very complex place and it is impossible for man to comprehend even the smallest percentage of it. The only one who understands the universe is the creator, God. He's the one that makes sure a giant meteor doesn't come hurtling through space to wipe out mankind. If you really want to know how the earth began or just want to know more about who created the universe, I suggest visiting drdino.com and downloading the movie, "The Age of the Earth." Good luck with your search!

Answer 4

All things exist all the time.

You can test this yourself:

Get a tennis ball, and put a big trash can on the floor. Now roll the tennis ball behind the trash can. If you watch, it will go out of view as it goes behind the trash can. Sure enough, that ball's gonna come out the other side.

Now how did the ball get to the other side while no one was observing it if it stopped existing? All things exist, all the time :)

Answer 5

Scientists don't prove things. They come up with models and work out the consequences of those models (during the course of which, they might prove things, but in that respect, they are just being mathematicians). If those consequences match reality, the model is useful. If not, the model is refined or discarded.

So:

For the tennis ball/trash can example, one model is that the ball existed out of sight independent of our observation. It's momentum and position changed according to Newtonian laws until we observed it again.

Another is that it blinks in and out of existence based on whether or not we are looking at it. It blinked in with just the right position and velocity to reconcile with our Newtonian model.

Both of these models satisfy our oberved facts. In cases like this, we apply Occam's razor and choose the simplest one that still explains the data. We don't say that we proved it (since the more convoluted model is still possible), but experience tells us the simpler model is more likely to make better future predictions.

Answer 6

Since there is no way to actually know the answer to this, since ANY means of ascertaining a things existance is a form of observation, your question is unanswerable.

Answer 7

There is no way to know, because when they aren't observed there isn't no one to observe that the things are not there?




.do you by the way study metaphysics?