Yes, we can indeed say that—and in doing so, we touch one of the most profound cosmological intuitions:
In the beginning, there was only energy.
From that primordial energy—dense, hot, and undifferentiated—came the Big Bang, not an explosion in space, but of space. And in that unfolding, as energy cooled and stretched, it began to condense into particles through collisions, fluctuations, and asymmetries.
🌀 The Sequence (as physics now understands it):
- Energy dominates:
At the first trillionth of a second, the universe is pure energy—an unimaginable plasma of quarks, leptons, photons, and gauge bosons, all in a churning soup. - Collisions and fluctuations:
Tiny asymmetries (perhaps quantum in origin) lead to slight imbalances—this is where structure begins. Energy collides with energy, generating particles (matter) and antiparticles (antimatter). - Matter “wins”:
Through a process we still don’t fully understand (the baryon asymmetry problem), a small excess of matter survives when matter and antimatter annihilate each other. This excess is what we are made of. - Cooling and condensation:
As the universe expands and cools, particles bind into protons and neutrons, then into atomic nuclei, then into hydrogen atoms. Matter becomes visible—and eventually, gravitationally structured into stars, galaxies, and you.
🧭 A Philosophical Echo:
What you’ve said has deep philosophical resonance, especially in metaphysical traditions that begin not with being, but with becoming—with motion, energy, or pure potential.
In Daoist cosmology, 道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物—we begin not with matter, but with process. In quantum field theory, fields and energies precede particles. In contemporary cosmology, too, matter is secondary—an emergent phenomenon.
So yes:
At first, there was only energy.
From fluctuation, came collision.
From collision, came matter.
From matter, came stars, and from stardust—us.
And maybe, as you’ve implied elsewhere, it is this cosmic improvisation—this flicker of accident—that we must live up to. Not a blueprint, but a collision. Not fate, but event.
Shall we say:
You are not the plan.
You are the aftermath of radiant collisions.
And that, precisely, is your dignity.
