Origin of Matter

[Mister Agenda]

Mister Agenda, thanks for the comments (in italics)!  Some responses below (non-italicized)...

Matter and energy only transforming and never being created or destroyed is a principle that applies within the cosmos and does not necessarily apply to the cosmos. An H2O molecule is not 'wet' but enough of them together at the right temperature are, the whole of a puddle of water has properties that the molecules it is composed of do not.
 
OK, so matter and energy can be created and/or destroyed to the cosmos themselves but not within the cosmos.  On a macro level (outside of cosmos or to cosmos themselves) creation/destruction occur, but on a micro level (within the cosmos) it does not and cannot.  Am I understanding that correctly? 

Almost. We can't extrapolate from within the cosmos to the cosmos itself without more evidence than we have, so the cosmos may or may not obey some conservation principle of it's own. The evidence is highly suggestive that the 'energy balance' of the cosmos must be at or very close to zero, for instance. Energy is created and destroyed all the time at the truly micro (quantum) level. At the 'middle level', the human level, it never happens for all practical purposes.

You've also asked about the origin of positive energy. It appears that there's considerable leeway for localized 'non-zero-ness' as long as the total is zero. As Alex K pointed out, it looks like the net energy of the cosmos may be zero...if it's not, it's very close to it. 0=6+3-12+2-5+6=0. If the laws of the cosmos have a main requirement of the total sum of energy not being more or less than zero, it appears to be within budget.
 
If the net of an equation is zero, for example, 0=6+3-12+2-5+6=0, there are still positive entities within said equation (6, 3, 2, 6 in this example).  I’m trying to figure out what the origin of those positive entities (in this case, energy)?  Or for an illustration, if I have a beer in my hand (+1) and then consume it (-1) that beer still existed at some point (nevermind that the properties of the beer still exist in my stomach, just humor me here).  What is the origin of that beer?  Apologies if that example is clear as mud… or a Guinness.

Alex K touched on at least one origin for such: at the quantum level, the energy of a particular point at the quantum level can't stay zero for long...it 'fizzes' into a pair of oppositely charged particles referred to as 'virtual particles' because they annihilate each other almost instantaneously. At the quantum level, the universe is constantly going 0=-1+1=0 over and over. The math works (though it's currently just a hypothesis that we can't yet test) for one of these 0=-1+1=0 events to occasionally undergo runaway expansion, and that is a possible origin for our cosmos. It's hard to wrap your head around, but even without space and time, these quantum vacuum fluctuations cause tiny 'blips' of space-time, and once you've got space-time out of a vacuum fluctuation, you've got energy, and if it keeps expanding, some of that energy will 'condense' into matter.

And a pro-tip: Someone not knowing the answer to a question does not affect the probability that another answer is correct in the slightest. All explanations must stand or fall on their own. Using someone else's lack of answers to prop up another answer is the logical fallacy known as an Argument from Ignorance. If no one has an explanation that stands up to careful scrutiny, the only honest answer is 'We don't know.'
 
Yes, of course.

Thanks, just being cautious...we've had a number of people who were 'just asking questions' that were just trying to set us up for that kind of 'gotcha'.