Religious Zen

Why something rather than nothing?

This is an age old philosophical question. Since this is filed under “Random Musings,” I really don’t plan on answering it. I simply want to throw it out there for people to ponder. Why is there something rather than nothing?

Some argue that this is a clear case for a creator. But if one substitutes random particles approaching a singularity with a God, then one must ask, “Why God rather than nothing?”

There are a few logical statements we can make. I’m sure there are many more, but I am not a philosopher. (If you want all the philosophy you can handle go here.)

Why is there something rather than nothing? Some thoughts and logical conclusions:

1. There always was something. (The second law of thermodynamics and entropy dictate this from our current understanding of cosmology.)

2. ‘Nothing’ is unstable, and will always arrive at something eventually.

We know that there was indeed something, or else we would not be here today.

Even if we can answer “Why was there something?” there is still another nagging question I can’t get past: Why is there existence itself? Why is there a container for something to exist? If our planet is contained by the universe, then what contains the universe? How did this existential Tupperware bowl that holds all the multidimensional universes and everything that has ever existed come into being?

It seems just as likely that there could be nothing. No, not a black void. Even a black void is something. I’m talking about the kind of nothing that everyone somehow “remembers” from before they were born. That kind of nothing.

On that topic, I have noticed something. If you tell someone to imagine ‘nothing’ then generally they will imagine what they have come to know as nothing. Some might imagine a black void (as I think most people do), and others might imagine a blank canvas. Answers really vary depending on the person. If, however, I ask someone to imagine the ‘nothing’ of what it was like before they were born, everybody knows instantly what that was like. Everybody has the same idea when it comes to that kind of nothing.

I believe this is significant, even if it is completely explainable and natural. This nothing is where we came from. One can imagine it as a very deep connection that ties everybody- rich and poor, great and small- together. We came from nothing, and will return to nothing (or depending on your spiritual views at least our bodies will, if not the soul.). The ‘nothing’ could be the source for everything. Eastern philosophers call it the Tao. An all pervading consciousness that is the driving force for all life. Maybe we all meet up and become one. Or maybe, we ultimate do go into nothingness.

And really if you think about it, we will not entirely go into nothingness. Our body will decay. Insects and worms will help with the decompositon process. Birds and other animals will eat those insects, and other animals still will eat those birds or they will die and go to the earth themselves. From the earth a tree might use minerals and nutrients that your body provides it. At the atomic level, your body can still exist. That tree can go on to reproduce and spread, housing life and providing shade for other humans and animals.

Even if the tree is burnt into ashes and all life on earth is eradicated, your body will remain woven into the fabric of the earth itself. Even if there is no afterlife, even if my consciousness will go back into the nothing and I- my mind- ceases to exist, the essence of my being at the atomic level will live on until the end of time. Whether you are religious or an atheist, there is something spiritual to this thought. Even this much is enough to fill me with a huge peace.

Nature and reality itself are a gift. There IS something rather than nothing. Let’s not muck it up by hating each other and causing strife. The universe is too big to care, so why should we? We are all on this crazy spaceship we call Earth and will sink or swim whether we are divided or united. I would rather sink as a united people than swim as a divided humanity.

No matter what the answer to all this is, boy, do I feel small.

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