Originally posted by LW Sleeth
Recently there has been a lot of talk at PF about nothing, what it means, and if something can come from nothing. I want to take a shot at it by claiming there is no such beast as “nothing” and no need to worry about infinite regress if we understand the richness of potentiality.
I think Heusden, Mentat and others have been right to point out that some arguments go on because we’ve not clearly defined “nothing.” When I’ve responded I have assumed it meant that the universe came into existence from a total void; that in one instant there was a void, and then the next was the big bang. I did not assume “nothing” meant there was no cause of the universe, as some said, because I don’t think it is possible for something that has a beginning not to have a cause. Also, looking at the universe it all does appear to operate by way of cause and effect, so it seems logical to assume that such a nature reflects what it is born of (i.e., it is the offspring of cause and effect, or at least a cause). Why is it so difficult to imagine a cause-less effect? Because it defies logic, and logic is based on the relationships between cause and effect.
I have a theoretical perspective on the first cause dilemma that, for me and for now at least, satisfies logic. To begin with I look at cause and effect as neutrally as possible and call it movement (one could also call it change, which is movement too, but I have reason for calling it movement). Without movement there is no cause and effect. If we imagine the big bang as movement (which it clearly was), we might ask what preceded it. What was the status quo then? Is it possible there was no movement (or change)? Was it still, and then movement began for no reason? There seems no way to say that something didn’t change/move that then brought about the big bang. In words, prior to our universe’s existence, something was there either moving or capable of moving.
Thus we come to the concept of potentiality, which is not nothing. Stated as a principle we might say it as follows: All that exists in time must be preceded by the potential for it to exist. Our universe apparently did have beginning, and therefore we can wonder about the potential it sprang from. Since the nature of our universe is movement, for example, we might assume that part of the nature of this potentiality is dynamic, that it fluctuates in some manner, which can lead to events like a big bang.
I’ve tried to imagine what such a fluctuation might be like, if there are any clues in our universe which might guide one. Something I’ve noticed about reality is that besides movement are three other universally present traits: light (EM of course), vibration, and concentration. Everything which can be shown to exist, without exception, possesses these qualities. All matter is atoms, and atom types are determined by how much energy is concentrated in them. When energy escapes its bond to matter it does so as light (photons) whose character is also influenced by energy concentration. And of course, both atoms and EM relentlessly vibrate.
Now, might this give us clues about the nature of the potentiality creation emerged from? Could that potentiality, for instance, be some sort of fluctuating luminescent vibrancy? Might one sort of fluctuation that happens be a sudden, intense concentration and release?
Now, let’s say that is exactly what the big bang was, and what the universe is doing now is returning to pure potentiality. Does that solve the something from nothing problem? Not yet, because our logic wants to know the “cause” of that potentiality. To me, I think this is where one has to accept the possibility that this potentiality has always existed; it was never created, it will never be destroyed; it had no beginning and it has no end. It just is. It exists and cannot not exist. It is, in fact, existence itself.
I don’t think the concept of an uncaused potentiality, whose fluctuations “causes,” answers all questions -- obviously it isn’t scientific since one can’t test the hypothesis. But if true nonetheless, it would be why there cannot be nothing.