I agree whole heartily with this. You can argue until the cows come home whether the universe or the creator has first claim on existence, but this is where it stops.
Next point:
Nimdoc (#223) I have always thought of space as a potential, not as a cause.
Physicist (#224):I don't know what that means.
I will try clarify my statement since this is why I bumped you to this thread.
Let me quote from Diamond (#211);
A quantum vacuum is not nothing, and fluctuations in a quantum vacuum do not constitute an exception to the principle that whatever begins to exist has a cause.
I agree that the quantum vacuum is something, it is space (whatever that is). I agree that space is required for a quantum fluctuation to exist, but does the existence of space require that the quantum fluctuations exist? A given volume of space can potentially have quantum fluctuations, but is it required to? Can this requirement be labeled "a cause" of the fluctuations?
I have heard it said that if physical laws do not prohibit an event, it will occur, eventually. For example, based on quantum probabilities, it is possible to compute the probability of a beer can spontaneously falling off the table to floor. The answer involves some huge number of zeros, but the possibility is there. Does this "potential to fall" constitute a cause?
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I realize the answer to this may dwell more on the semantics of the word “cause”, rather than a definitive statement that can be rigorously defended, but give it your best shot.
Yes. The saying in physics is, "whatever is possible is compulsory".
From a quantum field theory point of view, the fluctuations constitute the vacuum. They are the vacuum.
Can this requirement be labeled "a cause" of the fluctuations?
No.
I have heard it said that if physical laws do not prohibit an event, it will occur, eventually. For example, based on quantum probabilities, it is possible to compute the probability of a beer can spontaneously falling off the table to floor. The answer involves some huge number of zeros, but the possibility is there. Does this "potential to fall" constitute a cause?
Quantum fluctuations don't involve sudden, unconserved changes in momentum that would be necessary to fling a beer from a table. Energy and momentum are conserved. So instead of the beer, I'll use an example of neutron decay. Does the potential to decay constitute a cause? Not in any meaningful sense, I'd say.