Why is there something rather than nothing?

sid_16

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As the thread title reads ''Why is there something rather than nothing?'' It seems an impossible question but I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to solve it.:)
 

XhenEd

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Is this a riddle?
It's not a riddle, but a question that doesn't need to be answered, yet wondered.

I believe it cannot be answered objectively and conclusively. It's just a question some philosophers (or even scientists) wondered, especially in the Middle Ages, to know what really is "reality" and "being".
 

Kate_L

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There is always something, it is like when you got a new idea, you had nothing or you think you had nothing but you still have something. The idea came from somewhere, you did something in a way or another. We say there is nothing just because we can't see or feel ...

I think that it is like "how do you know how hot is something ?" you need to have something cold just to "compare".
 
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sid_16

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Perhaps this question is not understood properly so I'm twisting the question;
Everything came from 'nothing' because it is the only thing that doesn't come from anything. I used the word "nothing" to mean both as a void and also as being the cause of 'something'. What I mean to say is that the beginning of time there was a void, then something came to occupy the void without cause- 'nothing'. I am merely proposing that we place the void as the beginning of time since nothing comes before a void. What follows of course is that existence came to occupy the void by "nothing".
 

XhenEd

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Perhaps this question is not understood properly so I'm twisting the question;
Everything came from 'nothing' because it is the only thing that doesn't come from anything. I used the word "nothing" to mean both as a void and also as being the cause of 'something'. What I mean to say is that the beginning of time there was a void, then something came to occupy the void without cause- 'nothing'. I am merely proposing that we place the void as the beginning of time since nothing comes before a void. What follows of course is that existence came to occupy the void by "nothing".
No. A thing cannot come from "nothing" because, as you already stated, "nothing" is void. We can even say that it's a "no-thing" (there is no thing in nothing). Nothing comes from nothing. To have something, something must first exist.

As I'm a believer of God, though, I believe that God created the world ex nihilo (from nothing). I basically follow St. Thomas' logic in the Five Ways about the existence of God and implicitly how come there is "something" rather than "nothing". To put it simply, there is something because there is someone/something that caused it in the first place.
 
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sid_16

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No. A thing cannot come from "nothing" because, as you already stated, "nothing" is void. We can even say that it's a "no-thing" (there is no thing in nothing). Nothing comes from nothing. To have something, something must first exist.

As I'm a believer of God, though, I believe that God created the world ex nihilo (from nothing). I basically follow St. Thomas' logic in the Five Ways about the existence of God and implicitly how come there is "something" rather than "nothing". To put it simply, there is something because there is someone/something that caused it in the first place.

I disagree, as long as there is something, it is possible for one to ask, "where did that 'something' come from?" One can never count to infinity, so this position can never be resolved. However, if we placed the beginning at the void, the question of existence is resolved.

I think bringing 'GOD' into this discussion would regarded controversy here.
 

juhful

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I disagree, as long as there is something, it is possible for one to ask, "where did that 'something' come from?" One can never count to infinity, so this position can never be resolved. However, if we placed the beginning at the void, the question of existence is resolved.

I think bringing 'GOD' into this discussion would regarded controversy here.
Impossible to ask a question like this and not bring God into the answers.
 

sid_16

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There is always something, it is like when you got a new idea, you had nothing or you think you had nothing but you still have something.

Okay you both (XhenEd ) have a point to be noted but my statement can be rephrased as thus I think.... any logical model of the universe leads to infinite regression; the only way out of this infinite regression and thus resolving the question of existence is through a break in cause and effect.
 
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sid_16

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Impossible to ask a question like this and not bring God into the answers.
Rephrasing my previous post here and please note the bold part;
''I used the word "nothing" to mean both as a void and also as being the cause of 'something'. What I mean to say is that the beginning of time there was a void, then something came to occupy the void without cause- 'nothing'. I am merely proposing that we place the void as the beginning of time since nothing comes before a void. What follows of course is that existence came to occupy the void by "nothing". ''

Magical Time is a concept in which a being can exist, move about and have a non-sequential relationship with real time. It is how supernatural beings are able to exist "outside of time". It defies the laws of Nature and, therefore, doesn't exist.

Real time is the natural order of time. It exists in the sequential order of past to present to future. It is so incorporated into the Natural universe that we cannot even make a statement without some reference to time. For instance, the simple statement "I am" has a reference to the present time. Therefore, I suggest not to bring a supernatural being in to this discussion.
 

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