QUOTE : This second metaphysical premise dates back to the time of Parmenides. It may be summed up as follows: “From nothing, only nothing comes.” If we don’t put any content into “nothing” (such as continuity, dimensionality, or orientability, as might be found in a spatial continuum), then “nothing” will not mistakenly refer to “something”; it will not mistakenly be thought to have characteristics, do something, or be somewhere, etc. Nothing is nothing. There is no such thing as “nothing.” To say anything else argues the most fundamental of contradictions. We may now proceed to our conclusion—combining a first premise from physics and a second premise from metaphysics. (1) If there is a reasonable likelihood of a beginning of the universe (prior to which there was no physical reality whatsoever), and (2) if it is apriori true that “from nothing, only nothing comes,” then it is reasonably likely that the universe came from something which is not physical reality. This is commonly referred to as a “transcendent cause of the universe (physical reality)” or “a creator of the universe.