Introduction
In this article, we will present you the 8 levels of nothingness. In other words, we will see how although we can have nothing in common sense, there still could be an underlying level where we can eliminate more properties and lead to a more absolute nothing. We will start from a room empty of objects that we can naively consider empty and will reach deep levels of nothingness. So in all that said, below are the 8 levels of nothingness.
Level 1
At the first level of nothingness, space appears to be empty of visible objects, but this emptiness is an illusion. Even in a seemingly void space, tiny particles like dust and air molecules are present, though they are too small for the naked eye to detect. Beyond these invisible elements, other properties such as air pressure and temperature exist, shaping the environment in subtle but measurable ways. This level of nothingness highlights that what we perceive as “empty” is actually filled with microscopic matter and forces, emphasizing that true emptiness is harder to achieve than it might seem at first glance.
Level 2
On this level beyond a space emptied from visible objects, it is also a space with completely no matter. This means that there are no even air atoms or particles more generally. So in other words there is no matter at all. We might consider completely empty space the space that exists between galaxies but this is not empty space at all. In fact, the density of the intergalactic space is one atom per cubic meter. This density is less than a billionth of a billionth of the density of air on Earth, but it is not zero. Achieving a truly matterless space is extraordinarily difficult, even in the vast expanse of the universe.
Level 3
Once all particles and atoms have been removed from space, what remains is pure energy. According to Einstein’s equation, E=mc2, matter and energy are equivalent, meaning that eliminating all matter-energy also involves removing energy in its various forms. This includes photons, the carriers of electromagnetic radiation. To achieve this level of emptiness, we must strip the space of all photons across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from low-frequency radio waves to high-energy gamma rays. By doing so, we eliminate all forms of electromagnetic energy that could exist within the space. This level of removal represents a deeper step toward absolute nothingness, where even the fundamental vibrations of energy are no longer present, leaving a space entirely void of matter and radiation.
Level 4
In level 4 where we now left from the previous levels where we removed completely all matter and energy, we take a step further. We remove the space-time itself. This means that we remove the underlying fabric on which everything builds upon, including matter and energy. Someone might say that we have now moved to a pre-big-bang condition, where space-time has not yet been created. However, although we have removed space and time, the laws of physics still exist. Particularly there still also exist the laws of Quantum Physics. The universe can be created from nothing through quantum tunneling, which someone would say is the production of matter and energy from a white hole, or in other words the local depreciation of the eternal inflation that created our universe . This is called the creation from nothing into something. So someone would ask have we reached the absolute nothing? Actually, there more levels we can consider!
Level 5
In this level where the word “nothing” has reached its nearly absolute value, we proceed and remove the laws of physics themselves. We consider now that the things that are still left are non-physical things if there are any. So here we stop having the mechanisms of creation of our universe, as also the effect of quantum tunneling can not take place. We also have eliminated other popular theories like string theory or quantum gravity. So we don’t have the mechanisms to produce our universe or any other universe. This level is beyond the frame of physics or physicists, who they would claim that this level is impossible. In this level we can say that we have eliminated everything that is included in the physical nature with no laws of any kind. A such level of nothingness could prevent the cosmos of creating our universe and the multiverse beyond.
Level 6
The only things that could survive in the prior level are non-physical things. So we remove from this level all non-physical substances, including God, and other entities in a spiritual realm. All these entities exist in a non-physical sense but they are removed from this level. Another entity that is removed from here is consciousness. And as consciousness is an everyday deal of human existence, we may understand now, how many levels far and foreign is consciousness as a concept, to the physical reality and human brain mechanisms and activities that take place, or any other brain that produces any level of consciousness.
Level 7
Robert Lawrence in his YouTube channel Closer To Truth, claims that there are also two more levels of nothingness. Someone would say, and basically in philosophers’ view, that we have already reached the lower level and there is nothing more to abstract in order to reach the absolute nothing. So to recap up to here, we have all matter and energy from space, we have removed space-time itself, we have removed furthermore the laws of physics, and then the non physical objects such as God or consciousness. So what is left? The only things that are left to remove are the abstract objects since all the concrete ones are gone. These objects are numbers pure logic and other platonic forms all concluded in an abstract nature. And since we have eliminated God in the previous level, entities like numbers for example are out of control of God. So we have to deal here with how God and abstract objects fit together in some sense.
Level 8
So what possibly could further exist so as to eliminate it and reach the maximum level of nothingness? The very last property we can remove from level 9 is possibilities. So we remove all the possibilities for the abstract objects to exist, which reflects the possibilities to the upper levels of nothingness too. So we have in this final level the possibilities that are impossible in some sense. This may be sound like a logical contradiction because we present a possibility of eliminating all the possibilities, but is the deeper thought that we can make on finalizing these levels and potentially reaching the maximum level of nothingness.
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