Note: The original text is in Chinese, and the English version was translated by the author using OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Have we truly seen the world clearly?
When I was a child, I often wondered while watching the wildflowers and grasses sprout and grow in the spring, wither and die in the autumn, endure the cold of winter, and sprout again in the following spring: If their roots remain, can they always be revived in the next spring? If that’s the case, then these wildflowers and grasses would never truly die and would be immortal.
But why is it that all the people I have seen buried after passing away cannot, like the wildflowers and grasses, come back to life in this world? This was a confusion I had about the world when I was young.
Over two thousand years ago, the great poet Qu Yuan asked in his Tianwen (Heavenly Questions): “In the beginning of the world, who passed down the way? Before heaven and earth took form, how could we study it?” In ancient Greece, people also asked: “Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are you going?” Many people, from ancient times to the present, have pondered these questions. To this day, these questions still captivate us.
Although we live in this world, have we truly seen it clearly? Does what we know about the world come close to the truth? Where did the world originate from? Why is it the way it is? And where will it eventually go?
Understanding the World
Natural science is the foundation of all knowledge. Without understanding natural science, how can we understand the world, life, or human existence?
Theories may be wrong, but phenomena never lie. When theories contradict phenomena, it’s always the theory that’s wrong. We can only use theories to explain the world, but we cannot use theories to deny it.
Viewing All Things as a Whole
My body, your body, his body, our food, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the houses we live in, the flowers and trees around us, the animals, the oceans, deserts, the moon, the sun, the stars in the night sky—where did all these come from?
To answer this question, we can first treat everything around us, including our bodies, the stars in the sky, and all other objects, as a whole, which we can call the universe or the world. So, the question can be restated as: Where does the world come from? Or, where does the universe come from?
This is a cosmic-level problem, and it’s truly perplexing.
Where Did the Universe Come From?
Where did the universe come from? It’s hardest to answer this question rationally, as it requires a reasonable explanation.
In contrast, answering this question through religion is the easiest and least thought-provoking because all you need to do is invoke an all-powerful god. However, it is obvious that such a god does not exist, and we must rely on reason.
With reason, there are three possible explanations for the origin of the universe. The first explanation is that the universe has no origin and has always existed from the very beginning. The second explanation is that the universe has an origin, which comes from something else. The third explanation is that the universe has an origin and was created from nothing.
The first explanation, though suggesting the universe has no origin and has always existed, still faces the serious problem of asking where the very first universe came from. Therefore, the first explanation is untenable—the universe must have an origin.
If the initial universe has an origin, where is its source? If we trace it back, we would follow a chain like this: initial universe → source 1 → source 2 → source 3 → … Eventually, we would never reach the ultimate source of the universe. And it is impossible not to find the ultimate origin. Moreover, even if we find the initial source, where does that source come from?
Thus, the initial universe must have an ultimate source, and that source must come from nothingness. This is the only possible explanation. This nothingness is absolute void, where everything is zero. That is: initial universe → source 1 → source 2 → source 3 → … ultimate source → 0.
In other words, the initial source of the universe was generated from absolute void, and this source then created the initial universe, which eventually became today’s universe. If it were otherwise, we could not explain or understand the origin of the universe.
In short, the universe came from nothingness. From nothingness, the universe was created, and over a long process, it evolved into the universe we know today, giving rise to all things. All things in the world, when traced back to their origins, are ultimately from absolute nothingness. To put it more simply, nothingness gives birth to the universe, and the universe generates all things.
Ancient Explanations
Despite how difficult it is to answer where the universe comes from, over two thousand years ago, Laozi, during the Spring and Autumn period, said in his Dao De Jing: “All things under heaven are born of being, and being is born of non-being.”
Laozi also provided his explanation: “There was something chaotic, existing before heaven and earth, silent and empty, standing alone and unchanging, moving around without danger—it could be the mother of the world. I do not know its name, so I call it Dao, and I give it the name ‘Great.’”
Laozi further said: “The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things.” “The Dao is the essence of all things.”
Though Laozi lived during a time when science was not well-developed, his explanation of the origin of the world still offered a reasonable view. Although Laozi’s explanation differs from current scientific views in detail, the fundamental idea remains the same: the world originates from nothingness. One cannot help but admire Laozi’s profound knowledge and keen insight and ability to reason.
Modern Explanations
One of the most influential theories in modern cosmology is the “Big Bang Theory,” which proposes that the universe was formed from a hot, dense singularity after a Big Bang approximately 14 billion years ago.
In 1927, Belgian astronomer and cosmologist Georges Lemaître first proposed the Big Bang hypothesis. In 1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble, based on this hypothesis, formulated Hubble’s law, which states that the redshift of galaxies is proportional to their distance from Earth, leading to the theory of the expanding universe.
In 1946, American physicist George Gamow formally proposed the Big Bang theory, suggesting that the universe was created in a Big Bang that occurred about 14 billion years ago.
How Can Something Be Created from Nothing?
“Nothingness gives birth to the universe, and the universe generates all things” perfectly explains the problem of where the universe came from. But how can the universe be created from absolute nothingness, where everything is zero? This is another cosmic-level problem.
What we know for sure is that the universe was created from absolute nothingness and exists today. From this, we can deduce that there must be a mechanism that allows absolute nothingness to evolve into the universe. At present, we do not know what this mechanism is, which allows nothingness to create the universe.
In absolute nothingness, perhaps there is nothing at all. But because of symmetry breaking, slightly more matter is generated than antimatter. Meanwhile, matter and antimatter annihilate each other, generating immense energy.
Over the long course of time, energy accumulates, becoming hotter and more abundant, and the amount of matter continues to grow. Finally, about 14 billion years ago, the Big Bang occurred.
Before the Big Bang, the universe was a singularity. Even after the Big Bang, the volume of the universe was extremely small, which does not explain why today’s universe is so vast and has no discernible boundary.
If we use the inflation theory to explain this, we can account for why today’s universe is so large.
Particles can be created from energy in the form of particle-antiparticle pairs, but where did the energy come from? The total energy of the universe, which is the sum of positive and negative energies, is exactly zero. The universe consists of positive energy. At the same time, everything is attracted by gravity; objects that are closer together have less energy than objects that are farther apart, because energy is required to overcome gravity to separate them. Thus, the gravitational field of all things has negative energy.
The negative energy of the gravitational field of all things perfectly cancels out the positive energy that all things possess, so the total energy of the universe is exactly zero. This explains where the energy came from.
During the inflationary period, both the positive energy of all things and the negative energy of their gravitational fields doubled, but zero multiplied by any number is still zero. Therefore, the total energy of the universe remains zero. During inflation, the universe expanded by an unimaginably vast factor, explaining why today’s universe is so large and boundless.
At the same time, at the beginning of the Big Bang, due to the violation of symmetry, more matter was created than antimatter. Although most of the matter and antimatter annihilated each other, the remaining matter formed the universe we see today.
How Can the Universe Be Contained?
From the perspective of space, how vast the universe is! From where did such vast space come, in order to contain the universe? Moreover, the universe arose from nothing; without such vast space, how could it contain the universe that was generated? After the universe was created, what lies beyond it?
Let us not forget, that everything, when traced back to its origin, is absolute nothingness. In absolute nothingness, everything is zero. Therefore, the creation of the universe does not require any space. After the universe is created, the edge of the universe becomes the edge of the world, and there is no world beyond the universe. This is what Hui Zi referred to when he said, “The greatest is without outside.”
Are There Multiple Universes?
Is this world composed of just one universe? Or are there multiple universes? If the universe split during or after its creation, then the entire universe would consist of many smaller universes. In that case, the universe we are in would only be one of these smaller universes, not the whole universe. Thus, the world beyond the universe we inhabit would consist of other smaller universes. But who can prove that the universe has split? Let’s assume there was a split; what is the relationship between these multiple smaller universes?
Why is the Universe This Way?
From the birth of the universe until today, there has always been evolution. Thanks to evolution, the starry sky is so dazzling, with countless celestial bodies. Because of evolution, life is so diverse, with countless forms of organisms.
Today, in addition to hydrogen, there are many other elements in the universe. Hydrogen and other elements created from hydrogen sit quietly in their respective places on the periodic table of elements.
After the Big Bang, only part of the hydrogen in the universe formed stars, not all of it. The hydrogen that did not form stars at the beginning gradually formed stars later on, and the Sun is one of those later-formed stars.
In the vast universe, there is a planet called Earth, the planet on which we live and inhabit. On this planet, from inanimate matter, the simplest and most primitive forms of life evolved. From those early, simple forms of life, more advanced forms of life, like human beings, eventually evolved.
Inanimate matter and living organisms together make up the colorful Earth, the lone island in this universe, the paradise of life.
Our bones, organs, muscles, fat, hair, the food we eat, the water we drink, the items we use, and our Earth—all elements, except for hydrogen, came from distant, long-gone suns.
Where Will the Universe End Up?
From nothingness came the universe, and from the universe, all things were formed. About 14 billion years ago, the Big Bang gave birth to today’s universe and created all things. But where will the universe go?
The first possibility is that, after a long period of time, the changes in the universe are irreversible, and it will eventually head toward destruction, returning to zero.
After this destruction, the universe might explode again in another Big Bang, becoming a new starting point for the universe, once again giving rise to all things. If this is the case, how many times has the universe been created and destroyed? Since the universe will eventually be destroyed, why then does it evolve life, and why evolve intelligent beings like humans?
The second possibility is that although the universe came from nothingness, it was only created once. After its creation, the universe has existed continuously. Such a universe would not head toward destruction, returning to zero. Instead, it would remain in a state of continuous change, like the cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. There would be times of spring when all things are flourishing, times of summer when all things are vibrant, times of autumn when all things wither and fade, and times of winter when everything is silent and still. But with the arrival of the next spring, everything will once again flourish.
The third possibility is that the development of the various parts of the universe may not be balanced.
In certain parts of the universe, there is destruction and creation. Some parts of the universe may eventually face destruction and return to zero, only to be recreated, thus continuing in a cycle.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the universe, there may be ongoing changes, like the seasons.
The Universe May Experience Cyclical Changes
The above presented three possible outcomes for where the universe is headed. However, I believe that within one cycle, the universe overall moves in one direction and cannot be reversed. Once this cycle ends, a new cycle may begin, bringing forth a brand-new universe.
Thus, the universe may have creation, but it could also ultimately face destruction. After destruction, it could be recreated, and after creation, it may be destroyed again. Everything might begin from zero, end at zero, begin again from zero, and then end at zero. This cycle may repeat, over and over.
A Future Scientific Revolution
Although, compared to primitive humans, we know much more about the world today, there is still far more that we don’t know, and it is even more difficult to solve!
For many fundamental issues, we still know very little. Solving these problems will depend on the wisdom of the world. How can we solve them? By sticking to freedom and science. Once these problems are solved, there will be a great scientific revolution in the future.
This is the full translation of the article you requested. Let me know if you need further clarifications or any adjustments!