In his book “Our Mathematical Universe,” Max Tegmark attempts to answer the question of what the foundation of the universe is. By doing that he also answers the question of why anything exists instead of there being nothing. Tegmark’s conclusion is that the universe is a mathematical structure. If this is true, then it follows that the answer to why anything exists is that it exists because it must exist. Tegmark’s starting principle is that there exists a physical reality which is independent of human beings. His conclusion is that this physical reality is mathematics. This essay will accept this starting principle and focus on that move in his argument: the move from his starting principle to his conclusion. There are three pieces of supporting evidence for Tegmark’s move in his argument. Mathematics reflects phenomenon present in nature, mathematics predicts things currently not seen in nature, and mathematics has intrinsic …show more content…
It has just been discussed that clearly mathematics is reflected in nature that we perceive, but it is also the case the mathematics can be used to predict things in nature that we have not seen yet. We have found physical things through mathematics. The discovery of Neptune, radio waves, and the Higgs Boson particle are all examples of times that math proved the existence of the physical thing before the physical thing was actually observed. Having found physical things through mathematics helps support the claim that mathematics is the underlying principle because it is evidence there the mathematics could be there before the physical observation. It is evidence that seeing something physically in front of you is not necessary to prove its existence. The existence of something can be proven through mathematics and that is a primary step in proving the existence is based in