I have no idea…let me guess…time ? — simplyG

You guessed right. Now what else do we need besides time?

Nothing gives you nothing so I don’t see how your universe could start with nothing. However if you posit that something has ALWAYS existed then something coming from nothing would not be an issue as that’s impossible. 0 gives you nothing we can even math it out 0+1 gives me the one I started with.

You guessed right. Now what else do we need besides time? — punos

Matter or energy ?

I still don’t see what you’re trying to prove, if you think that something can come out of nothing I am yet to be convinced.

Nothing gives you nothing so I don’t see how your universe could start with nothing. — simplyG

The reason we start with absolute nothing is so that we can build up the universe piece by piece. When you write on a piece of paper do you turn to a full page and start writing on top of previously written material? No you don't.

You are right that nothing by itself will yield nothing, but that's why i'm asking what else is needed without prior contingency; the most bare bones version of a viable universe capable of evolving into one like ours universe today. So we need the basic components. We start with a blank slate, and ask what do we need to have in order to make the next stage of evolution of this universe take place.

Zero by itself can't do anything, it needs something to change its state to a 1. So what can do something like that? Perhaps the field of math and logic could give us a clue?

Matter or energy ? — simplyG

Ok, let's add energy into this universe. What is the main characteristic of energy? is it a substance? is it an activity of some sort? Can it be created or destroyed? Does it change itself or does it need something else to change it?

Consider for example how Eskimos have many words for the one concept we have for snow. Because Eskimos have so many words to distinguish between different types of snow, they are able to notice things about snow that we can't. — punos

This is a common belief but it is not true. In english we have different words for different types of snow and we can add additional words if we don't have a suitable single word. For example, "yellow snow" (should be avoided). :grin:

Here are some types of snow (from Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classifications_of_snow
- Cornice
- Finger drift
- Pillow drift
- Sastrugi
- Snowdrift
- Wind crust
- Wind slab
- Firn
- Névé
- Penitentes
- Suncups
- Yukimarimo
- Base snow – Snow that has been thoroughly consolidated.
- Frozen granular – Snow whose granules have frozen together.
- Loose granular – Snow with incohesive granules.
- Machine-made – Produced by snow cannons, and typically denser than natural snow.
- New snow – Snow that has fallen since the previous day's report.
- Packed powder – Powder snow that has been compressed by grooming or by ski traffic.
- Powder – Freshly fallen, uncompacted snow.
- Wet – Warm snow with a high moisture content.
- Corn snow – Corn snow is coarse, granular snow, subject to freeze-thaw.
- Crud – Crud covers varieties of snow that all but advanced skiers find impassable.
- Packing snow – Packing snow is at or near the melting point, so that it can easily be packed into snowballs and thrown or used in the construction of a snowman, or a snow fort.
- Slush – Slush is substantially melted snow with visible water in it.
- Snirt – Snirt is an informal term for snow covered with dirt.
- Watermelon snow – Watermelon snow is reddish pink, caused by a red-colored green algae.

I still don’t see what you’re trying to prove — simplyG

I'm not trying to prove anything, i'm simply trying to answer the deepest question any philosopher has ever asked; why is there something rather than nothing? I am investigating viable avenues and ideas that can shed light and provide a satisfactory explanation or answer to the question. I believe i have identified a gap in our working knowledge and it has to do with the source of change, and movement. It is as if we were trying to describe and understand the concept of trains without knowing anything about the train tracks. Without the train tracks that literally enables the train to move we will never reach a reasonable understanding of what a train is.

Interesting list, thanks. :smile: It still proves my point, because it means that there is more than one form of snow. I've never heard of most of those words, and i'm sure i'm not the only one. Imagine how skillful one can be in understanding snow when they know and understand this list of words. Yet, i'm sure Eskimos have a much more nuanced understanding of snow than we do. Some ancient cultures that lived in tropical or hot places didn't even have one word for snow or even a concept of it.