So this is a non-scientific, fictional ("create a myth") kind of discussion? Neat if so. — Outlander
The OP requested "philosophical" theories, not "fictional" stories. Unlike Physicists, philosophers can indulge in Meta-physical theorizing to illustrate possible scenarios, but not to the point of fantastic narratives. Even such fictional characters as Unicorns are not beyond belief : in the course of evolutionary mutations, a horse could conceivably grow a horn. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Like a Black Swan, it could happen. So, let's not get too crazy here. :joke:So this is a non-scientific, fictional ("create a myth") kind of discussion? Neat if so. — Outlander
. . . that nothingness has a limit (a state of non-existence would be a state of non-existence and nothing else) requires that something exists; that is, nothingness can't never be [the "existence" of a state deprived of things that exist (nothingness) would necessarily induce a state populated by things that exist due to its limited nature]and it is this characteristic about nothingness which is responsible for the origin of the universe — Daniel
Given that all extant cosmological evidence indicates that it had a planck radius at "the beginning", the universe is a very-far-from-equilibrium "macroscale" effect of a primordial "microscale uncaused event" (i.e. quantum fluctuation), and therefore not a(n act of) "creation". — 180 Proof
... my understanding is that the BB was a planck-scale event, therefore acausal; or, in other words, the initial conditions of the universe were randomly set [ ... ] As an explanation, saying 'g/G caused it' is indistinguishable from saying it randomly occurred ... — 180 Proof
For those not familiar with this line of thought: Hartle-Hawking No Boundary conjecture. (Maybe no "big bang" at all, just a white hole-like Q-tunneling from a higher (false?) vacuum ... analogous to a twist that transforms a [plane] into a Möbius loop?) — 180 Proof
'13.81 billion years' is the currently estimated 'age' only of this non-planck radius universe (which is emergent, or non-fundamental (Rovelli et al)) and not of the planck vacuum itself. — 180 Proof
That's why I have concluded that the explanation for the existence of our world, is not just eternal Energy or persistent Matter, or even creation ex nihilo, but the essential power or potential to exist --- which I call "BEING". So, my creation myth begins with Ontology. :smile:That a state of nothingness cannot be forces the existence of a state of absolute existence. — Daniel
Do be philosophical — Thinking
The question that'll have to remain unanswered is whether our universe is the handiwork of the first cause or that of someone who appears at some other point in the long line of creators. Does it even matter now that there's a first cause, the simplest of the simplest "creator"? — TheMadFool
Yes. In my creation story, BEING is simply No-thing, except infinite Potential. Hence, nothing is Actual . . . until Actualized or Realized or Enformed. So BEING, in Dawkins' simple-to-complex conundrum, is Nothingness. And you can't get much simpler than that. But then, how can we explain how Something came from Nothing? That's easy, if No-thing is Potential.Ergo, the creator needn't be more or even as complex as the universe. — TheMadFool
:clap: :fire:... once philosophy managed to find a foothold in the human psyche it's been involved with one simple task: mental hygiene ... itself is no walk in the park for the mind is a veritable maze complete with booby traps and it's easy to lose one's bearings and, let's not forget, booby traps maim, even kill. — TheMadFool
99.999...% of every 'something' (and between somethings) is, in effect, no-thing; so rather, it's impossible for there to be only nothing.It is impossible for there to be nothing, therefore there must be something. — Daniel
That doesn't follow. A "beginning" is an event whether or not it is causal or acausal (e.g. vacuum fluctuations)So no first cause, no beginning and no end. — Brett
Why does the universe need to be created? Why couldn't it have always existed? — 8livesleft
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