Creating Universe from "Nothing": Astrophysicists Debate

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of how a universe can emerge from "nothing," with a focus on the definitions and implications of "nothing" as presented by various astrophysicists. The scope includes philosophical considerations, scientific definitions, and the intersection of these ideas with creationist perspectives.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested, Conceptual clarification, Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant argues that the term "nothing" is often used ambiguously, particularly by Lawrence Krauss, and suggests that true "nothing" is the absolute absence of everything, which cannot be scientifically validated.
  • Another participant proposes that a total vacuum, while devoid of matter, still contains fields such as gravity and electromagnetism, thus questioning whether this can truly be considered "nothing."
  • A similar viewpoint is reiterated that while a vacuum can be a starting point for understanding the universe's origins, it does not align with the definition of "nothing."
  • There is a suggestion that the concept of "nothing" may be overemphasized in both scientific and theological discussions, potentially leading to logical inconsistencies.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the definition of "nothing," with some accepting the idea of a vacuum as a form of nothingness, while others argue that it does not meet the criteria for true nothingness. The discussion remains unresolved with competing interpretations of the concept.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of a clear consensus on the definitions of "nothing" and the implications of these definitions for scientific and philosophical discourse. The discussion also highlights the dependence on varying interpretations of "nothing" across different contexts.

Adamchiv
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Please forgive me if this is just philosophy. I was watching an event where niel degrasse tyson invited several other astrophysicists to debate about how a universe can come from nothing.

Now obviously lawrence krauss uses the word nothing in an ambiguous way and can easily be misinterperated. So these astrophysicists were all giving various definitions of nothing and what occurred to me is they didnt really touch upon the true definition of nothing. Which is absolutely nothing, nothing whatsoever, can't even be visualised, the abscense of everything at all ever.

Now surely from a scientific standpoint we cannot even have an ounce of confidence that there was ever nothing at all, on a very basic level if anything was ever the triggering factor for the beginning of time then nothing is a complete falsehood.

By the way, this works just the same for creationists as if god started the universe then of course there was something and not nothing. In fact, and again this may be unscientific, nothing cannot even be a try thing, it destroys it ever taking place in any point of time/space/other dimension, by its very definition.

So do you think that the idea of nothing is maybe brought up too much and is a logical falsehood that should be moved away from by both scientists and theists?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
A total vacuum free of any kind of matter is one kind of 'nothing' which can in theory exist.
However that emptiness still would have fields present; gravity, electromagnetism, quantum fields.
 
rootone said:
A total vacuum free of any kind of matter is one kind of 'nothing' which can in theory exist.
However that emptiness still would have fields present; gravity, electromagnetism, quantum fields.

I totally accept that as a very good starting point as to working out how the universe came to be. It isn't nothing by definition though, I still don't think that by definition, nothing is a possible scenario
 
Thread closed temporarily for Moderation...
 
Sorry, thread is too philosophical, so will remain closed.
 

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