this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
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Can something happen without anything else causing it?

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[โ€“] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I mean, action and reaction aren't rigorously defined concepts. When a nucleus spontaneously decays, you could just as well say that's an action with no reaction by that measure, but it happens all over the place. Vacuum polarisation from an electromagnetic field is even closer.

[โ€“] Derpenheim@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

While I would agree, both of those are theoretical - just like my example. The truth is we haven't, and can't, test these things and see their mechanisms take place because of their timescales. But it is a really fun thought experiment