Why Eternal Existence Explains Reality

Reginald Patterson © 2025

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The Unescapable Truth: Existence Has Always Been

We exist. The universe exists. Reality, in all its depth and complexity, is undeniably here. But how? The Patterson Ontology cuts through speculation and arrives at an inescapable conclusion: existence is eternal. There is no other logical possibility.

Why “Nothing” Can Never Produce Something

If reality had a beginning, what came before it? “Nothing” is the only answer—but absolute nothingness (true void) cannot produce anything. No laws, no quantum fluctuations, no hidden potentials—just pure absence.

• If there was ever nothing, there would always be nothing, because nothing has no mechanism to become something.
• Even the idea of “something emerging from nothing” requires rules—but rules are something.

Thus, the only coherent conclusion is that existence never began. It has always been.

The Eternal Foundation: What Must Be True

Since existence is eternal, it must contain the capacity for everything we observe: matter, energy, consciousness, and the laws that govern them. This implies an uncaused, foundational reality with three necessary attributes:

1. Self-Sufficiency – It depends on nothing else; it simply is.
2. Creative Potential – It allows for the emergence of all possible realities (like our universe).
3. Immutability – Its core nature does not change, even as its expressions do.

Key Implications of Eternal Existence

1. Experience Cannot Come from Pure Randomness

Consciousness—the fact that you feel anything—cannot logically emerge from chaos alone. For experience to exist, three things are required:

• Stability (a consistent framework for perception).
• Order (laws that allow coherent interaction).
• Intentionality (thoughts are about something).

Randomness provides none of these. Therefore, experience must be fundamental to existence itself—not an accident, but an intrinsic feature.

2. Reality Is Inherently Creative

When we say reality is “creative,” we mean it has an inherent capacity to generate, manifest, and explore possibilities. This doesn’t require a “creator” in the traditional sense, but rather that existence:

• Contains all potential states (otherwise, where would they come from?).
• Expresses those potentials (our universe is one such expression).
• Generates novelty (life, consciousness, mathematics).

Examples of Creativity in Reality:

• The Big Bang didn’t come from nothing—it emerged from an eternal substrate capable of producing it.
• Evolution isn’t purely random; it operates within a framework that allows complexity.
• Human imagination suggests reality “explores itself” through conscious beings.

3. The Universe Is a Subset of a Greater Reality

Our cosmos is not all that exists—it is one manifestation of an eternal, generative foundation. The Big Bang was not the absolute beginning, but a transition within a deeper, timeless reality.

4. Meaning Is Inherent, Not an Illusion

If reality is eternal and creative, then purpose is not an accident—it is a natural consequence of existence. As Reginald Patterson noted in 2001 for his book Intelethics:

“While the natural environment’s movement may be independent of the existence of life, its purpose is not. Without the existence of life, the entire universe is power, without purpose or will. Without life to nurture, the universe is the tree that falls in the forest with nobody around to witness it. While the fall of an unwitnessed tree may indeed make a sound, the point is that it doesn’t make a difference. 

Similarly in nature, galaxies could collide, but without life, there would be no pain. That collision would produce results, but there would be no consequences. So in a very meaningful way, whether by chance, design, or law, the significance of life and nature are deeply intertwined on the grandest scale.”

Why This Changes Everything

Most philosophies and scientific models fail at the first hurdle: explaining why there is anything at all. The Patterson Ontology bypasses this by recognizing that existence must be eternal—there is no alternative.

Once we accept this, we move past unanswerable questions like “What caused existence?” and instead ask:

• What does eternal existence imply about consciousness?
• How does creativity manifest in reality?
• What is our role in an actively unfolding universe?

This isn’t mysticism—it’s the only logical conclusion if existence has no beginning. The Patterson Ontology doesn’t just explain why there is something rather than nothing—it reshapes our understanding of reality itself.