(August 16, 2018 at 8:19 am)SteveII Wrote:(August 16, 2018 at 2:00 am)pocaracas Wrote: Ok, so explain to the rest of the class how a quantum field in vacuum requires any particle.
Last time I checked, vacuum is described as the absence of particles.
I really, really don't understand this rabbit trail we are going on and how it relates to any part of any argument, but...
Quote:According to present-day understanding of what is called the vacuum state or the quantum vacuum, it is "by no means a simple empty space".[1][2] According to quantum mechanics, the vacuum state is not truly empty but instead contains fleeting electromagnetic waves and particles that pop into and out of existence.[3][4][5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_state
So an infinite spacetime, in this vacuum state is always in a constant production of particles and fields. What's keeping this mechanism from popping a Universe?
No matter how unlikely it actually is, in an infinity of spacetime, it must surely happen... perhaps even an infinity of Universes are bound to happen. Surely, not all at the same point of spacetime.
It relates to your argument(s), because it totally removes any agency from the cause of the Universe. It's just random.
Like your first cause, god, needs to be a brute fact to you... I keep things simple and think it's more reasonable to consider spacetime as the brute fact.
Spacetime has the added benefit of having actually been verified to produce these particles... which should be a very good hint.