One of the more popular atheistic, scientistic, myths is that the universe came from nothing. Sensing the powerful tug of logic that suggests the universe had a cause beyond itself, it has been the mission of some to leverage findings from quantum field theory to remove the possibility of a transcendent cause to everything. In 2012, Lawrence M. Krauss released a book entitled “A Universe from Nothing”, wherein he asserts – as the title suggests – that the universe sprung forth from nothing! Ta da! Actually, he thinks the universe came forth in a quantum field – but that’s nothing……right?
David Albert, professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, says…”no!”.
Here’s a great quote from his review of Krauss’ book:
“Relativistic-quantum-field-theoretical vacuum states — no less than giraffes or refrigerators or solar systems — are particular arrangements of elementary physical stuff. The true relativistic-quantum-field–theoretical equivalent to there not being any physical stuff at all isn’t this or that particular arrangement of the fields — what it is (obviously, and ineluctably, and on the contrary) is the simple absence of the fields! The fact that some arrangements of fields happen to correspond to the existence of particles and some don’t is not a whit more mysterious than the fact that some of the possible arrangements of my fingers happen to correspond to the existence of a fist and some don’t. And the fact that particles can pop in and out of existence, over time, as those fields rearrange themselves, is not a whit more mysterious than the fact that fists can pop in and out of existence, over time, as my fingers rearrange themselves. And none of these poppings — if you look at them aright — amount to anything even remotely in the neighborhood of a creation from nothing.”
spes clara 
12 responses to “Did the universe come from nothing?”
so… where did the ‘quantum field’ come from?
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I honestly don’t know the exact nature of quantum fields, but as a Christian I would say it was created by God. If a quantum field is SOMETHING not NOTHING, then that thing is the result of the creative work of an infinitely powerful, personal Creator God. But, I hear you asking, who created God? I will discuss that in an upcoming post. Thanks for the question though.
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Actually, I was asking rhetorically. I think Krause is just kicking can… if nothing really is “something”, ie. A Quantum field (whatever the heck that is), it just pushes the problem further back without acrually answering the question of where everything came from.
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poor desperate christians, alas, for them, every other cult tries to make the same claims they do, and not one of them cna show that their god merely exists, much less is the creator. A christian’s god is no more “necessary” than any other imaginary being. It can simply have been a force.
still no evidence for any gods at all. Just the lies of theists. It’s great that Albert has no evidence for his claims at all.
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The point of the quote was nothing more or less than this: a relativistic-quantum-field-theoretical vacuum state is NOT nothing. To say the universe came from nothing, and then assert it sprung out of a roiling quantum field is equivocating on the word “nothing”. Nothing is exactly that. Nothing. A quantum field is something, not nothing. This was the point of the quote, and the post. But if this blog post got you worked up, there are plenty more coming your way that will give you food for thought. Thanks for your interest.
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And still no evidence for your god at all, nothing or not nothing, Matthew.
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There is plenty of evidence for the existence of God, kind sir. But the question is this: is it possible to prove something to a person who is unwilling to have it proved to them?
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And of course, you can’t show a single bit of this supposed evidence, Matthew. How typical.
I always love when christians who have no evidence try to cover that up by accusing me of being unwilling to see this supposed evidence. It’s great when you try to blame me for your failure.
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Oh, please. Stop being so dramatic. Jane, I am simply pointing out a fact that you know well. Adult psychology is geared towards the maintenance of existing beliefs, which is why it’s hard to convince theists that atheism has merit, and vice-versa. That’s why it’s hard for Democrats to convince Republicans that their policies are better, and vice-versa. There are simply too many personal interests at play to expect those on the opposing side to hear and agree with their arguments. You have virtually 0% chance of convincing me that God doesn’t exist. Barring a miracle (and breathe easy – because I know you don’t believe in those), I have about 0% chance of converting you to Christian theism. Let’s just be honest. I wasn’t “blaming” you for anything. It’s just a fact that we don’t want fundamentally contrary arguments to upset our apple carts. You know it. I know it. Let’s not pretend that 95% of atheist/Christian “dialogue” on the internet isn’t just mudslinging pretending it’s an intellectual quest for the truth. That being said, I do hope to provide some genuine reasons why I think the Christian God exists. I’m sure you’ll have responses to all of those. That’s OK with me. Blessings.
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ROFL. And gee, *still* no evidence for your nonsense.
It’s great to see the constant excuses that christians give for having nothing. YOu try to claim 0% chance, adn that’s simply not true. Plenty of christians leave the cult. atheists also join various cults, and theists often change teams.
As usual, the christian has nothing so tries to claim that he doesn’t even have to try whe nthat isn’t true.
And yes, dear, you were trying to blame me, and since i called you out on it, then you have to try to backpedal your nonsense. I always love when christians try to hide their lies by tryign to convince me to agree with them.
Then you try to lie with your false claims that atheists are only “mudslinging”. I can’t speak for christians, but I know better than that when it comes to atheists.
So all in all we have your desperate excuses and still no evience for your imginary friend. I also hope you can provide some “genuine reasons” why you believe in your version of the christian god. I’ll be waiting.
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The tone of your responses does not auger well for future interactions. Let’s see what happens shall we. Thanks.
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aka matthew knows that he can’t lie to me and I’ll show how he lies. Unsurprisngly, Matthew, you still can’t show a bit of this supposed evidence you claim exists.
Why not, Matthew?
“The tone of your responses does not auger well for future interactions. Let’s see what happens shall we. Thanks”
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