The Zero Principle – Why Existence is Eternal
The Ultimate Starting Point
Reginald Patterson © 2025
Have you ever wondered where everything comes from? Why is there something instead of nothing? Most explanations—like the Big Bang, gods, or multiverses—just push the question back further. But there’s one idea that cuts through all the confusion:
Existence has no beginning. It never started—it just is.
This is The Zero Principle. It is the foundation for the Patterson Ontological Information Framework (POIF), and also the simplest and most logical answer to the deepest question of all. “What came first?”
Why Existence Can’t Have a Beginning
Imagine someone tells you the universe was created. You’d ask: “What created the creator?” If they say “Nothing, it just exists,” then why not skip the middleman and say the universe just exists?
Every “first cause” explanation runs into this problem. The only way out is to accept that reality has always existed—eternal, uncreated, and without a starting point. That is not a cop out, but instead acceptance of the only mathematically and logically bound conclusion.
Think of nothingness as zero (0). Now, ask: How do you get something from nothing?
- 0 + 0 = 0
- 0 × 0 = 0
No matter how you combine nothingness, you’ll always get nothing. So if there was ever a time when nothing existed, nothing would exist now. But since we do exist, reality must have always existed.
What Does “Eternal” Really Mean?
An eternal reality doesn’t mean “a universe that’s been around forever in time.” Time itself is part of the universe. Instead, eternal means outside of time—a foundation that doesn’t need a past or future to exist.
Think of it as an “eternal now” in which past and future are simultaneously the present. This would be like having vivid awareness of every moment of your life. But it would not just be memories or premonitions, but more like being a digital video player that holds an entire movie in which it can skip to any scene and play (experience) it, or play all scenes at once and comprehend them.
Why Our Foundational Reality Can’t Be Simple
Some say the universe came from a simple, empty void. But emptiness can’t create anything—let alone stars, life, or consciousness. The only way to explain our complex universe is if the eternal foundation was already and always complex:
- It contains the “rules” for physics (like gravity).
- It allows for consciousness (why we experience the world).
- It doesn’t need anything else to exist.
No “Higher” Reality
Some theories suggest our universe is a simulation, or that many universes exist. But these theories just move the goalposts:
- If we’re in a simulation, what created the simulator?
- If there are multiple universes, what holds them together?
The Zero Principle stops this endless loop.
What This Means for Us
If existence is eternal, then:
- Life isn’t an accident—it’s part of reality’s deep structure.
- Death isn’t an end—just a transformation of energy and information.
- The universe has meaning—because it must exist, and we are its way of experiencing itself.
The Bottom Line
The Zero Principle isn’t just philosophy—it’s the only logical conclusion. Every other idea about existence either:
- Leads to infinite regression (“what created that?” questions), or
- Relies on magical thinking (“something from nothing”).
Why This Matters
- For Science: Stops endless speculation about “before the Big Bang.”
- For Spirituality: Aligns with ancient ideas of an eternal, conscious universe.
- For You: Frees you from the fear of true nothingness—because nothingness is impossible.
Want to go deeper? Explore how this connects to quantum physics, black holes, and consciousness.
© 2025 Reginald Patterson | Share this article |
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