Why is there something and not nothing

[dodsy]

reading a good book just now and thats what its about, so lets here your own thoughts on the subject

[PaulHackett]

Lots of info to digest there

Probably because mass comes from energy, and vice versa, or summat like that. If you believe the big bang theory, and no, not that stupid US sitcom.

[dodsy]

Well I suppose the first post was a bit lacking info the book is called "why does the world exist" and answers are given from a variety of people from scientists to mystics. I've just started it so not got that far but thought its a good one to ponder while toasted and would be interesting to see what answers we get

[Ishmael]

lets say the universe has had lots of shots at it. Tossing the coin as it were, see whether it comes up something or nothing. Well it could have come up 'nothing' 99 times and our 'something' is the 100th, we wouldn't know would we?

[dodsy]

lets say the universe has had lots of shots at it. Tossing the coin as it were, see whether it comes up something or nothing. Well it could have come up 'nothing' 99 times and our 'something' is the 100th, we wouldn't know would we?

Thats a good one and could be the case

the book starts with this quote to get the ball rolling which is maybe well known but first time I read it.

"Suppose there were nothing. Then there would be no laws; for laws, after all, are something. If there were no laws, then everything would be permitted. If everything were permitted, then nothing would be forbidden. So if there were nothing, nothing would be forbidden. Thus nothing is self-forbidding. Therefore, there must be something."

[Guest bazzad9]

Im not yet convinced there is a "nothing " , does"nothing" exist , if we can point to it and say thats " nothing " doesnt it then become something ?

So what do we mean by nothing ?

A vacum still has "somethng" in it

[PaulHackett]

Im not yet convinced there is a "nothing " , does"nothing" exist , if we can point to it and say thats " nothing " doesnt it then become something ?

So what do we mean by nothing ?

A vacum still has "somethng" in it

Dog hairs, if you have a dog

[FunkyJazzJesus]

the idea of nothing is a fallacy in of itself.

[dodsy]

the idea of nothing is a fallacy in of itself.

expand on that

[FunkyJazzJesus]

to suggest the idea, it defeats the purpose of the idea.

[Guest bazzad9]

There are different degrees of what we term nothing , I show you a box and you ask "whats in it " and I say "nothing" you look and the box is I fact empty

But it isnt empty technically speaking , there is air inthe box , dust etc , so ok we build a box thats is sterile no dust we pump out all the air we can , but the box still isnt empty , there is still tiny amounts of air , virtual particles , neutrinos from the sun etc , stuff we dont yet know of even

So for every day use nothing has a meaning , there is nothing in the box , but in terms of how the universe came to be the everyday use of "nothing " is pretty useless

The "something from nothing" question only becomes a question when using the everyday meaning of nothing

The question we need to answer first is "does a nothing exist "or is there "something"everywhere in the universe , and if so how did we get here from that something

[Guest bazzad9]

If you point at something and say thats nothing you are showing me something by definition

[dodsy]

ok good points so lets move the question on a bit and say that the question now is "why does the world exist"

[Guest bazzad9]

ok good points so lets move the question on a bit and say that the question now is "why does the world exist"

Think ismael pretty much nailed it

If its possible for those "somethings " to start interacting in some way perhaps it was always going to happen eventually

It is one of the bigger questions

[dodsy]

it was a good answer by Ismael as I read through the book anything interesting I'll post to keep the debate going