- Introduction: Why Are We “Existence” Rather Than “Nothingness”?
- Chapter 1: Us as the Universe’s “Mistake”
- Chapter 2: Neutrinos—Lessons from the “Ghosts” That Slip Through the World
- Chapter 3: DUNE vs. Hyper-Kamiokande – The Dialectic of Competition and Cooperation
- Chapter 4: The Emotional Core of Physics – The Supreme Value of “Uselessness”
- Chapter 5: From Consumer to Producer—Beyond the Act of “Knowing”
- Chapter 6: Conclusion – Are We the “Dreams” the Universe Sees?
Introduction: Why Are We “Existence” Rather Than “Nothingness”?
We exist here as a matter of course in our daily lives. We wake up, eat, work, and sleep. Within this repetitive routine, we rarely ask ourselves, “Why do I exist?” However, at the forefront of modern physics—particularly in the world of particle physics—our existence is described as a “miracle” or an “error that should never have happened.”
This time, we present an episode from PIVOT’s “EXTREME SCIENCE” series featuring Shion Kubota of Harvard University.
This video is more than just a science explanation. It distills the human “karma” challenging the ultimate question of the universe’s origin, the “frenzy” driving a national project worth hundreds of billions of yen, and the “emotional depth” a young researcher found in physics.
What drew me powerfully to this video is how the truths of physics discussed there directly challenge our worldviews and philosophies. Neutrino research isn’t merely about understanding the behavior of minute particles. It is the very ontological question: “Why are we here as imperfect beings rather than perfect nothingness?”
In this article, building upon the video’s content, I aim to thoroughly explore the philosophical and ideological depths it opens up, from my own perspective. This is both a science article and a story of “affirming existence” for us living in the modern age.
Chapter 1: Us as the Universe’s “Mistake”
The Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Game
Perhaps the most shocking and poetic fact in the video is the explanation concerning “CP symmetry breaking.”
Kubota explains it this way: When the universe began with the Big Bang, matter and antimatter should have existed in a “one-to-one” ratio. When matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other, emitting light. If perfect symmetry had been maintained as predicted by the theory, the universe would have become a “world of nothingness” filled only with light. Stars, Earth, and us humans would not exist.
“The fact that we are not extinct today means the universe has evolved into one where matter clearly outweighs antimatter.”
I want to savor the weight of these words.
Our very existence stems from a “slight imbalance” that occurred in the early universe. For every billion particles of antimatter, there was one billion and one particles of matter. That single particle survived the violent storm of annihilation, shaping the galaxies, stars, and ultimately us.
Imperfection is the very source of creation.
The insight drawn from this is profound. We are sustained by the “collapse of perfect balance.”
Perfect symmetry, perfect order, is synonymous with “death” in physics. Nothing happens, nothing remains.
Conversely, it is precisely “imperfection,” “asymmetry,” and “noise” that are the conditions for existence.
Is this not a truth that also underlies our lives and society?
We often strive for flawless, perfect individuals and a flawless, perfect society. Yet, the laws of physics suggest a paradox: perfection leads to nothingness.
Your insecurities, society’s cracks, unexpected troubles. These very “symmetry breaks” might be the driving force that creates diversity, sparks change, and weaves stories.
On a cosmic scale, we are “affirmed errors.” This fact possesses a power that transcends the term “self-affirmation,” fundamentally affirming our very existence.
Asymmetry as Aesthetic Sensibility
Moreover, this “beauty of asymmetry” is deeply rooted in human culture. Japan’s concept of “wabi-sabi” is precisely an ideology that finds beauty within imperfection and decay. Why are we moved more by a slightly warped tea bowl or falling cherry blossoms than by perfectly ordered geometric patterns? Could it be because our own lives were born from “decay”?
Perhaps we instinctively know the secret of our own birth. That is why we feel a kinship with a hand-drawn, imperfect circle rather than a perfect one. The “human touch” we seek in art and culture may, when traced back to its physical origins, lead us to “CP symmetry breaking.” This might be a slight leap, but it offers a thrilling perspective where science and aesthetic sense intersect.
Chapter 2: Neutrinos—Lessons from the “Ghosts” That Slip Through the World
Connected by Not Connecting
Neutrinos are also called “ghost particles.” Trillions pass through our bodies every second, leaving not a single trace. This is because they interact with other matter almost never.
“Ordinary particles react. But Mr. Neutrino just comes right through you. You can’t even sense his presence if you touch him.”
This “lack of interaction” might seem lonely and pointless at first glance. Yet, precisely because of this, neutrinos can deliver information from the far reaches of the universe to us, unimpeded by anything.
When a supernova explodes, light (photons) struggles to escape the dense matter inside the star, but neutrinos slip right through and dash out into space.
What Super-Kamiokande captured was precisely this “message that arrived pure and unadulterated, precisely because it interacted with no one.”
The nature of being a solitary observer
Here lies a profound implication.
Modern society suffers from an excess of “connection.” SNS, chat, constant connectivity. We interact with too much noise and lose the ability to maintain the “purity of information.”
The neutrino’s existence teaches us that there is a truth only reachable by “untainted solitude.“
By not interacting with the “matter” of worldly clamor, peer pressure, and common sense, and simply following one’s own trajectory. Isn’t there a “supernova’s brilliance (= true wisdom)” that can only be brought back by doing so?
Non-interference is not coldness. It is the condition for being a “pure transmitter.” Traveling the universe carrying only truth, belonging nowhere, associating with no one. This tiny particle teaches us the beauty of such a way of life.
Dr. Kubota herself, too, seems to have maintained her core intellectual curiosity while traveling alone to America and then Britain at a young age, engaging with researchers worldwide.She, too, may be like a neutrino traversing the universe of the physics community. Her movements between the University of Manchester, CERN, and Fermilab resemble a neutrino effortlessly passing through the “matter” of borders and cultures.
Chapter 3: DUNE vs. Hyper-Kamiokande – The Dialectic of Competition and Cooperation
Massive Investment and National Prestige
The video also discussed the relationship between Japan’s “Hyper-Kamiokande” and America’s “DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment)”—two major projects.
Both are massive projects costing tens to hundreds of billions of yen. Why does humanity pour such enormous sums into particle physics research that (seemingly) yields no tangible benefit?
Beyond pure intellectual curiosity, this involves a complex interplay of national prestige, showcasing technological prowess, and economic motives. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s strong backing for DUNE likely stems from anxiety over America, once the leader in particle physics, losing that position to Japan and Europe.
“It would be interesting if different results came out.”
However, researcher Kubota’s perspective is lighter and more fundamental.
When asked about the rivalry between the two projects, she responded:
“I’m actually really looking forward to it if the results differ.”
If DUNE and Hyper-Kamiokande produce different observational results, it wouldn’t mean “one of them is wrong.” Instead, it would suggest the possibility that “the very foundations of current physics are mistaken (= a door to new physics opens).”
At that moment, rivalry between nations would vanish, and humanity would unite once more to tackle that mystery.
This is a redefinition of “competition.”
In the business world, competition exists to knock opponents down. But in the world of science, competition exists for “multifaceted verification.” Different approaches and the presence of rivals are safety nets for getting closer to the truth.
A mindset that views conflict not as “antagonism” but as “complementarity.” In our increasingly divided modern society, is there a healthier, more hopeful form of competition?
Big Science and Individual Creativity
She also addresses the unique dilemma inherent in “Big Science.”
In massive projects, a top-down command structure is essential, which can sometimes restrict individual discretion and creativity. Yet, within these constraints, she finds a “playground” in R&D (research and development), where she enjoys devising unique solutions and inventions.
“Creative work can only truly happen within constraints.”
This is a golden rule applicable to all work.
In complete freedom, creativity dissipates. Constraints, deadlines, budgets, or even the laws of physics. It is precisely because these “walls” exist that creativity sparks in the moment of trying to overcome them.
Within the massive DUNE system, her soul as a researcher resides in the details she oversees: the “device measuring wire tension” and the “pixel-type detector.”
Chapter 4: The Emotional Core of Physics – The Supreme Value of “Uselessness”
A 1300km Game of Catch
The scale of the DUNE project is extraordinary.
A neutrino beam created at Fermilab in Illinois is fired through the earth toward an underground facility in South Dakota, 1300 km away.
1300 km. That’s a distance comparable to Tokyo-Okinawa or London-Rome, and they’re sending subatomic particles through matter to catch them.
And the purpose? To determine whether neutrinos transform (oscillate) along the way.
At first glance, it seems like madness. What good is it? If asked that, we might be at a loss for words. It won’t make tomorrow’s stock prices rise, nor will it make your smartphone battery last longer.
The raw driving force of intellectual curiosity
Yet, Kubota describes physics as “heart-pounding (emotional).”
She originally aimed to become a professional flutist. After experiencing the setback of losing her ability to produce sound, she made an unconventional career shift into the world of physics.
Music and physics. While seemingly polar opposites, they are connected within her.
“They just use different languages to understand the world.”
Music seeks to touch the essence of the world through emotion, while physics does so through mathematics.
Ms. Kubota’s passion for the question “Why do humans continue to exist in the universe?” reminds us of humanity’s fundamental desires beyond mere practicality.
We do not live merely to survive, reproduce, and sustain the economy.
“The moment when the unknown becomes known”
That spark of insight, that pleasure that makes your brain tingle—isn’t that precisely what makes us human?
“Uselessness” is precisely why it is precious
Today’s world places extreme importance on “time performance” and “cost performance.” Skills that yield immediate results and knowledge that translates instantly into money are highly prized.
Amidst this, particle physics might seem like the “ultimate waste.”
Yet, looking back at history, without quantum mechanics—a theory “thought to be utterly useless at the time”—semiconductors, lasers, and the internet would never have been born.
“Useless” fundamental research is the soil of future civilization.
Abraham Flexner, the first director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, once wrote an essay titled “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge.” He argued that truly great discoveries arise not from calculations of “whether something is useful,” but from pure curiosity.
Kubota’s research also belongs to this lineage.
What they pursue is not tomorrow’s bread, but enhancing the resolution of the landscape humanity will see a hundred years from now.
But even more crucial is the fact that the very act of “burning one’s life for something useless” serves as proof of humanity’s richness.
In terms of efficiency alone, AI is undoubtedly far superior. But isn’t this “irrationality” – devoting one’s life to questions without answers, to pursuits that yield no profit – the very pinnacle of humanity that AI can never replicate?
The passion to chase particles 1,300 kilometers away. It proudly declares that we are not “machines merely for survival,” but “travelers seeking meaning.”
Chapter 5: From Consumer to Producer—Beyond the Act of “Knowing”
Diving into a World Without Textbooks
In his video, Mr. Kubota also touches on the difference between research and study.
“Study” up to the undergraduate level is about efficiently learning the correct answers someone else has already figured out. However, “research” starting from graduate school (PhD) is about stepping into areas where no human has yet found the answers.
“Classes really condense things you genuinely don’t know and hand them to you, so sometimes I still miss that a little,”
She says this with a smile, yet her eyes are filled with the resolve of someone standing in a “wilderness without answers.”
In our daily lives, we tend to seek “the right answer.” The right career path, the right way to handle relationships, the right formula for happiness. We consume manuals written by others or the “success principles” preached by social media influencers, seeking reassurance.
But isn’t Insight Dot’s “Mindset Design” about discarding those pre-made maps and walking uncharted territory with your own feet?
The moment you become “the world’s best”
A PhD program is said to be the process of becoming “the person in the world who knows the most about that specific, narrow field.”
It doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a universal genius. For example, the pride of having thought more deeply and worked harder than anyone else in humanity on a single point: “the automated system for measuring wire tension in the DUNE experiment.” That forms your identity as a researcher.
This is a mindset we can all apply.
There’s no need to aim for “omniscience and omnipotence.” What matters is immersing yourself more deeply than anyone else in a specific moment of your life, in a particular passion. That experience of breaking through in one specific area is what creates a unique perspective and makes the world interesting.
Just as Mr. Kubota views the world through the “window” of physics, we should each polish our own “window.” For some, it might be coffee; for others, programming code; for still others, raising children.
What matters is not describing the phenomena you observe using borrowed words, but engaging in the “scientific process” of observing with your own eyes and mind, formulating hypotheses, and testing them.
These small, individual explorations accumulate, expanding the horizon of human knowledge. Only when individuals with special abilities (or obsessions) come together, like the Avengers, can we confront the formidable enemy (or friend) that is the mysteries of the universe.
Chapter 6: Conclusion – Are We the “Dreams” the Universe Sees?
Toward the end of the video, Mr. Kubota states:
“We may be like an organ the universe created to understand itself.”
Born 13.8 billion years ago, the universe spent vast ages creating stars, forging heavy elements, generating life, and ultimately giving rise to consciousness.
Now, when we build massive detectors to observe neutrinos, it is not humans observing the universe.
Rather, the universe is using the “eyes” and “brain” of humans to gaze into a mirror and see its own origins.
Thinking this way, even the emptiness and anxiety we feel daily about “why we live” seems like part of the universe’s process of self-discovery.
Your worries, your joys, and even the gaze fixed on this screen—all are part of the universe’s grand experiment to understand itself.
Each of us is a fragment of the “self-awareness” possessed by the vast system that is the universe.
Mr. Kubota’s research into elementary particles, my writing of this article, and your reading of it—all are attempts by the universe to answer the question, “Who am I?”
Thinking this way, even loneliness begins to fade. We are never isolated points; we function as part of a vast whole.
Next Action: Look up at the night sky and pose the question
After reading this article, please take a moment to look up at the night sky.
There, the stars that are the birthplace of the atoms that make us shine. And between those stars, countless neutrinos still race silently through space.
Your very existence is the victor in the fierce survival competition between matter and antimatter, the “frontier of awareness” the universe has reached over 13.8 billion years.
When you feel crushed by trivial daily troubles or society’s sense of stagnation, remember this fact of overwhelming scale.
We are the universe’s error, and at the same time, its hope.
Insight Dot offers this shift in perspective.
To reclaim a cosmic perspective within the everyday.
Physics can be one of the most powerful tools for achieving this.
Perhaps one day, Shion Kubota’s research will provide a single mathematical formula to answer the question, “Why are we here?”
Until then, let us each continue to confront our own “unknowns” in our respective places.
For that is our own sincerity toward the universe.
—
References & Sources
[Why Do Humans Continue to Exist in the Universe?] The Mysteries of Modern Physics, the Cutting Edge of Particle Research / Rival Project: “Kamiokande” vs. the Latest U.S. Initiative / Harvard University, Shion Kubota [EXTREME SCIENCE]
Related Keywords
#ParticlePhysics #Neutrino #CPViolation #DUNE #Hyper-Kamiokande #ShionKubota #EmotionalPhysics #ExistentialTransformation
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