Why is there something and not nothing?

Because you exist.

"Why is there something and not nothing? "

The universe went through a lot of trouble to get to the point where somebody could ask that question. I guess all we can say, in a moment of sublime recognition, is "wow!"

Al, that's the basic q. Religion aside, to avoid contradiction and paradox we almost hafta conclude that things are the way they are because that's he way they hafta be. In other words, if you tried to change one of the constants you'd probly turn up a contradiction somewhere. To avoid certain paradox we also hafta assume it has existed forever, in one form or another

We just need to look at all the information available without bias. How that's done is the $64 million question.

Well put Cis

Because if THERE WAS nothingness then Nothingness could not be...

..oh, I meant the imaginary concept long intended to mean the absence of every thing. Including matter, vacuum energy, space, and time. Rules of nature to...

Nothingness at best refers to things indirectly by mentioning their timely absence in a specific sector of spacetime.

On the other hand if we could imagine a scenario where the absence of any and everything was present in a segment of spacetime, the all idea of causation would fall flat. The ensemble of spacetime in its entirety start to end would include an empty set somewhere.

One way of thinking about Nothingness is to make it the shadow of Being.
Ironically nothingness barely makes sense by recalling the very things it tries to erase. Absence of what? Stuff! You need first to have Being so nothingness the shadow can make any sense.

Nothing about nothing is nothing at all...

Fil, you have fallen into the Trap of the koan.

I'd disagree Fil inasmuch it is so hard to imagine something conning out of nothing

poooof! And it appears like magic.
Yea, dale, I agree. There's always something there before it transforms into something else. It's called "evolution."

Please do notice I mentioned if causation is not true.
I am talking for you to imagine the Universe as a collection of pictures, a film. Time is just the order of the 3D "pictures" as the whole film exists simultaneously. Now imagine there is one empty frame.
Other then this scenario I agree with common sense. If causation is true then there is only transformation of stuff into other stuff.

And again the shadow of Being is not absolute nothingness as in order to make sense it invokes Being by denying it temporarily.

I can beat the Buddhists on this one and I explained it in my previous to this one post.
A temporary absence recalling being by denying it is not pure nothingness. It is corrupted by existence Being permanently true.
Process (not causation) between absence and presence is not nothingness...

Precisely Cis

Why Is There Something And Not Nothing?
Something instead of nothing?
Why is there something instead of nothing? The interesting conclusion of this ultimate puzzle is that, we can be sure of, it that at least something exists. There is a Universe, we see people, and things, and light, and while we may debate what it means, how it came into being, and how it works, we can be sure that there is at least `something'.
Many physicists search for the most elementary laws of physics, and believe that a law is more likely to be true, when it is simpler, more elementary. Some think that at some moment, humans will understand how the Universe and everything works, and, even more, that we find out why the Universe is necessarily as it is. (Ridiculous nonsense). I cannot believe that, indeed, I believe humans cannot ever give a satisfactory or final answer to this ultimate of all questions. Why is there something instead of nothing?
With nothing, I mean the non-existence of everything. No people, no earth, no milky way, no universe, no laws of nature, no space, no time a total non-existence of everything. A mind-boggling, brain-, brain-numbing and brain- twisting overwhelming concept, terrifying, frightening, too awful to contemplate and impossible think about, without going insane and totally beyond understanding of any human genius. Making a mathematical model of nothing is actually easy. (Take an empty set, with no operations on it, and nothing else.) Nevertheless, one thing we can be sure of: this nothing is not correct: we do not have “nothing”, but definite and absolutely do indeed have ‘SOMETHING’. This shows that the simplest model is not always the correct one.
The universe is almost unimaginably complex and to me this points to the simple logic that it is the creation by an infinite, intelligent power. Nothing is the very most basic of all concepts and if there were nothing, there would be no creator, of course.
Some people may argue that the universe was created in the Big Bang ( but whom and what pressed the button of the big bang in the first place, so to speak?), and that positive matter and positive energy are actually negated by the simultaneous creation of negative matter and negative energy. However, this doesn't answer the other question, where do matter, energy and laws of physics then come from in the first place?
Does this question have an answer?
If something exists because it either was a modification of something or else, Something or Somebody else created it, then what caused that to exist? It seems that our logic is unable to deal with the question; indeed, I think the question shows there is a limit to our understanding of things by the very best minds of the human race.
There are simply mysteries out there that will never ever be solved by mere mortal man. You see the universe has a strange Goldie locks condition about it, i.e., it cannot be too hot, or too cold etc., etc., etc., but it has to be just absolutely correct, precise and right in every way, or life would not have come into existence and we would not be around to contemplate, debate or dialogue on this ultimate enigma. We would not exist. Life hangs on and depends on this knife- edge of harmonies conditions that have to be sustained over countless billions of years, for us to have come into existence and continue to exist. Makes one think, does it not?

Why do we have a Universe? My answer is that God created the Universe.

However, then, one can ask, who/what created God? I believe God was not created and this ‘FACT’ IS BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING AND MUST BE ACCEPTED ON FAITH. God is far and beyond our understanding, everlasting, without beginning or end, eternal and ever -existing, but was (and is, and will be) always existed.
He/she is indeed the very author of all existence. Indeed, God is so mighty, Omni-All that he/she exists, forever, far above our reasoning and above the ultimate reaches of our logic. Something we and all the scientists, philosophers, etc., who do not believe, will just have to accept in time.

We will, at the end of the day have to, relent and acknowledge that somewhere out there is an awesome, colossal, mighty, great infinite intelligence that in comparison that we are as a microbe is to a universe or even much further remote, from the Omni-all power we call God.

It will indeed be a most humbling experience for us to finally realize and acknowledge, that there are things and mysteries that will; remain forever, absolutely, totally beyond human comprehension understand and reside eternally in the mind of our creator God.

It is a fact the finite can simply never ever comprehend the mind of the infinite; this should be logic to anyone

Thus for me God Exists as inescapable fact

Alan

But what if God and the universe is the same? What if it is just the mind that separates them? Then the universe is intelligent, and the realization and perception of this is religion, is the sublime.

So, why is there God?

How we came into being is based on evolution. Homo sapiens are from the primate family. That's what scientists have determined, and that's what I believe.

That's what I been tryin' to tellum now for some 18 years

Blue, it's just a name we can attach to She/He/It if we like