From Potentiality to Reality: The Creative Paradox of Emergence

In modern philosophical and scientific discourse, one intriguing question arises: how does something concrete emerge from nonexistence? We encounter an apparent paradox—if something is to occupy space, it must already exist, yet it is precisely this process of the unexpected birth of a new fact, a new mode of being, that underpins the development of the world. This idea emphasizes that evolution inevitably involves a transition from potentiality, where something is merely possible, to actuality, where it occupies its own place.

While the need for existence demands a certain determinacy, this dynamic process of transformation demonstrates that the world is in constant self-improvement: the old yields to the new, and potential takes on a concrete form. This transition, despite its apparent contradiction, constitutes a genuine act of creation, wherein initial uncertainty gradually transforms into stable reality. And if modern science focuses on the continual emergence of new and superior forms, then behind this development lies a profound philosophical idea—the possibility for something to emerge from, seemingly, nothing through an internal dynamic of potential that finds its embodiment.

Thus, it can be stated with confidence that this process is not only a fundamental mechanism of evolution but also a source of endless creative inspiration. A world full of possibilities inexorably pushes us towards the understanding that change is always a movement from the possible to the real, from dream to realization.

How can something that did not exist before come into being?
The answer can be understood through the transition from a state of potentiality to actuality. In one account, it is suggested that for something to occupy space, it must already exist; that is, the appearance of a new object, previously non-existent, represents a kind of paradox: if it was not there, it could not occupy space, but to occupy space, it must have been already. One quoted passage states:

"After all, that which did not exist before did not occupy any space, because to occupy space one must exist. On the other hand, that which exists in reality cannot be restricted by the container, nor by anything else. It exists on its own. One is left to suppose that it [here] exists on its own. But how can something give rise to itself? And how can the existent place itself as existing?" (source: link ).

Another perspective emphasizes that, in the context of the overall development of the world, new facts or forms of being that were previously absent continually arise. If the dynamic process of development is viewed as the appearance of more perfect phenomena replacing the former, then the very process of evolution implies a moment when that which did not exist before comes into being. This is expressed as follows:

"In contemporary science, the development hypothesis is widely accepted. When it is said that the world is in constant progress, it is obviously acknowledged that new and better facts are continually emerging, that superior and more refined forms of being replace the inferior and inadequate. ... But by admitting this, we essentially acknowledge an emergence from nothing, because that which did not exist before appears" (source: link ).

Thus, it can be said that something can emerge from nonexistence through the transition of its potentiality into actuality. In other words, there exists in the world a realm of possibilities which, as it becomes realized, acquires reality and dispels previous uncertainty. Such transformation presupposes an internal dynamic, within which potential—previously unexpressed as a tangible existence—becomes a phenomenon that occupies a place in the existing world. It is an act of creative transition, where what was once absent is allowed to materialize in reality, despite the apparent paradox of the process.