“First, if we believe that nothing can be created from nothing.”Lucretius · Despre natura lucrurilor · -55 · Cartea I, versul 159
Everything that exists has a natural cause; it does not arise from nothing.
Lucretius restates the atomist principle as a starting point for a scientific worldview. Believing that nothing comes from nothing means rejecting miracles and arbitrary divine interventions. Everything that exists arises from prior combinations of matter. For instance, a plant grows from a seed, not from thin air. This premise underlies rational investigation of nature.
Accepting that nothing comes from nothing forces us to seek real causes for every phenomenon. When you see thick fog in the morning, you do not blame a spell, but the temperature difference between ground and air. Thus, every event becomes a gateway to understanding nature's mechanisms. This way of thinking prepares us to view even seemingly inexplicable things as having a natural explanation.
Why it matters Today, this principle anchors us in critical thinking and helps us distinguish facts from fictions.