Why is there something rather than nothing? A perspective on the void, zero-sum physics, and meaning.
To understand why there is something rather than nothing, it is fundamental to distinguish between the void and nothingness, as their distinction can be counter intuitive:
- The void is an unlimited space in an unlimited time, free of mass, energy, and natural forces. This flat void cannot exist "spontaneously," because the very presence of indefinite space and time would require a physical, logical, and mathematical cause that it does not possess.
- Nothingness is the absolute absence of any physical entity. This is the true starting point, governed by the principle of conservation of nothingness: the essence of nothingness is immutable.
However, nothingness should not be understood only as "pure absence." It can also present itself through a vast array of deformed spacetime configurations, as long as the overall balance of those deformations remains zero.
Mass, energy, and the forces of nature are deformations of spacetime whose net total sum is zero. In this sense, concrete spacetime exists precisely because it is filled with physical things, maintaining the overall measure of Absence unchanged.
Since from a strictly physical standpoint there are infinite possible zero-sum configurations that are equivalent to one another, physics alone cannot explain why this specific universe exists. The selection criterion thus becomes informational and semantic: the Universe presents itself as ordered and meaningful, configuring itself as a Word of which physical reality constitutes the signifier.