What If Nothing Exists? | Leonard Susskind

Описание: What if reality is not built on something — but on nothing?

The idea sounds philosophical. But modern physics forces us to confront a deeper question: does “nothing” even exist?

In this video, we explore what physics actually means by “nothing,” and why the concept may collapse under serious scrutiny. Drawing on ideas associated with Leonard Susskind and quantum field theory, this documentary examines whether absolute nothingness is even possible within the framework of modern science.

In classical thinking, nothing means empty space — the absence of matter. But in quantum physics, empty space is not empty. The vacuum is filled with fluctuating fields. Even in its lowest energy state, it contains structure, activity, and potential.

Quantum field theory tells us that particles are excitations of fields that permeate all of spacetime. Remove the particles, and the fields remain. Remove energy, and quantum uncertainty persists. Even spacetime itself may not be fundamental.

So what would “nothing” actually mean?

No fields. No spacetime. No laws. No structure. No potential.

But physics has no framework to describe such a state.

Even cosmological models that discuss the universe emerging “from nothing” typically refer to quantum vacuum states — which are far from true non-existence.

This raises a profound possibility: absolute nothingness may not be physically meaningful. It may be a conceptual abstraction, not a realizable condition.

Modern physics does not describe reality as emerging from emptiness. It describes structured fields, symmetries, and constraints.

The universe may not rest on nothing.

It may be impossible for nothing to exist at all.