The Notion of Nothingness—Part 3: What is Nothing?

Any analysis of a question such as: Why is there something, rather than nothing? must be clear about the definition it’s using. So, turning to the dictionary for some clarity, the definition of nothing has a variety of meanings. It is, for example: “Not anything; no single thing; a thing that does not exist; something of no importance; and something of no amount—zero.”

From these definitions we get several interesting expressions: “Nothing could be further from the truth.” “Nothing is simple.” “Nothing is easy.” “Working for nothing.” “Nothing but the best will do.” “Nothing doing!” “Nothing of importance.” “Whispering sweet nothings in her ear.” “You ain't seen nothing yet!” Nothing is certainly a far-flung concept, so we must be careful how we use it.

The mathematical definition of nothing is another interesting angle to consider. The concept of zero was conceived of by mathematicians in India, well over a millennium ago. Up to that time many cultures struggled with counting beyond just a few items. The Sanskrit word for zero (or void) is sunya. Arab scholars introduced the concept of zero to the West, calling it sifr, from which we get “zero.”

Zero is nothing, no quantity. In contrast, “one” (or any other number such as “seven”) is something. So consider the equation 0 = 1 – 1. It says that the addition of something (some number, in this case “one”) with its negative is zero... or nothing. Or, we could consider the equation from a different perspective: telling us that zero (nothing) splits in two identical “somethings,” one positive and one negative.

In fact, another reason that many astronomers wonder why the universe contains anything at all, is because theory suggests that, in the immediate wake of the Big Bang, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created. Had this been so, those opposites would have met and annihilated each other... resulting in zero… nothing. (Such as in the equation above.) Yet our universe has something. Another puzzle.

In a similar vein, some people suggest that we can point to an example of nothing right here in our universe. The vast spaces between galaxies and stars consist of close to nothing, which we call a vacuum. It's space, which by definition is “entirely devoid of matter.” The root of the word vacuum is the Latin vacuus, “empty.” So the universe—which is almost entirely space—is essentially nothing, right? Well, not quite. Quantum mechanics tells us that even a perfect vacuum is not nothing. Subatomic particles are constantly popping into and out of existence there. Thus empty space—which some of us might consider to be nothing—is replete with matter and antimatter, dancing in and out and around each other. The most vacuous space is something!

This little adventure into the definition of nothing has probably not shed much light on the question of, Why is there something, rather than nothing? If anything, it has demonstrated the difficulty of understanding how different people conceive of nothing, and thus it illustrates the challenge of answering our question. Can we even comprehend what nothing is? Living in a universe of “somethings,” nothing may simply be unimaginable for us.

Next time: Some deeper responses to the question.