Prepared and presented for the Amateur Astronomers Association of Guyana, online group meetup.

1. A Universe from
Nothing
Why is there something rather than nothing?
Presented by Ferlin F. Pedro, B.A. in Philosophy

2. Some Theological Responses
• Theological explanation: God did it!
• Judeo-Christian thesis: Genesis 1 (compare with Genesis 2)
• Islam: Surah 7:55-59
• Babylonian Creation Myth

3. Genesis 1:1-3
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was
over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/genesis/1/

4. Surah 7:55-59
“Surely, your Lord is Allah. Who created the heavens and
the earth in six periods; then He settled Himself on the
Throne. He makes the night cover the day, pursuing it
swiftly. He has created the sun and the moon and the
stars, all made subservient by His command…
He it is Who sends the winds… Good land brings forth
vegetation plentifully by the command of the Lord.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/environment/is
beliefsrev1.shtml

5. Babylonian Creation Myth: The epic outlined
in Enûma Eliš: Tablet I
1 When the heavens above did not exist,
2 And earth beneath had not come into being —
3 There was Apsû, the first in order, their begetter,
4 And demiurge Tia-mat, who gave birth to them all;
5 They had mingled their waters together
6 Before meadow-land had coalesced and reed-bed was to he found
—
7 When not one of the gods had been formed
8 Or had come into being, when no destinies had been decreed,
9 The gods were created within them:
https://www.ancient.eu/article/225/enuma-elish---the-
babylonian-epic-of-creation---fu/

6. Babylonian Creation Myth: The epic outlined
in Enûma Eliš: Tablet V
35 At the end [ . . .
36 Let there [be] the 29th day [ . . . "
37 After [he had . . . . ] the decrees [ . . .
38 The organization of front and . [ . . .
39 He made the day [ . . .
40 Let the year be equally [ . . .
41 At the new year [ . . .
42 The year . . . . . [ . . .
43 Let there be regularly [ . . .
44 The projecting bolt [ . . .
45 After he had [ . . .
46 The watches of night and day [ . . .
47 The foam which Tia-mat [ . . .
48 Marduk fashioned [ . . .
https://www.ancient.eu/article/225/enuma-elish---the-
babylonian-epic-of-creation---fu/

7. What is something?
Characteristics:-
• It has an existential feature in the ‘real world’.
• It can be described (primary and secondary properties).
• It is the product or consequence of something else.
(causality)
• It has an empirical basis (evidence, perceptual
experience, etc.)
…But there are some problems.

8. What is nothing?
• Methodological preference - Whoever asserts the existence of
something has the burden of proof. E.g. If an astronomer says there is
water at the south pole of the Moon, then it is up to him to provide
data in support of the lunar water.
• Linguistic problem - Parmenides maintained that it is self-defeating to
say that something does not exist. (P not-P). ‘Georgetown does not
exist’ is about Georgetown. A statement can be about something only
if that something exists.
• Causality problem - Greek philosophy presupposed creation was from
something more primitive than nothing. Christians left a little
nothingness in their philosophy make sense of creation from nothing.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nothingness/#WhyTheSomR
atThaNot

9. Quantum Physics and Nothingness
• Energy and matter are indistinguishable, they are the same.
• The quantum vacuum contains fluctuations which transitions from a
state of nothing to a state of something, randomly and continuous.
• zero energy actually is measurable and observable. It is finite.
• See GIF
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy

10. https://blogs-
images.forbes.com/startswithabang/files/2016/09/1-
Yr4wE4q4x2BQ8DtbhqcuQw.gif?

11. Questions to ponder
• Is empty space really empty?
• What is nothing if quantum physics indicates something in the
vacuum?
• Is it possible that our notion of nothing is illusory?

12. End