A thing alone cannot create another greater than itself. To paraphrase, a thing created cannot be greater than it's creator, if it's entirely created by the creator alone. I think this is going to be a short one, but here are my thoughts on this.
An immediate counter is, what of human inventions? There are diverse human creations, and the crowning one might be Artificial Intelligence, which is poised to be greater than Humanity. Then, what of AI?
Sticking with my original conjecture, I'll say then, Humanity isn't the sole creator of AI, in the same way the hammer is not the sole creator of that roof above your home. It is a tool employed, a part of it's creation. That doesn't answer the question though, it only paints me as dogmatic. For an answer, consider the number 2. Contrive a way (without any external interference) to derive the number 3 from 2. I'll leave the mathematic-king to you, but most likely your equation is going to borrow upon the influence of another number, a coefficient. Now, if you're able to do it, or find one, please contact me so I can further my thinking and update this conjecture.
Building upon my argument above, just as 0 alone cannot produce 1, then a thing created cannot be greater than it's creator. If it ever seems so, then the creator was a part in it's making, a tool, and not the fulness of it. Merely the most prominent part, caused by a limitation in sight.
Extrapolating this conjecture, the Universe then cannot create itself, just as 0 alone again cannot create 1. Then, what did? God. Then, what created God (the age-old question)? To which I'll answer, God is Beginning and Finality, the Coefficient. Going back to my argument above, suppose an equation:
We have in effect, derived 1 from 0, albeit, not entirely using 0, we need the Coefficient.
I do not rely on Logic though as my foundation of thought, I use Faith. I consider them like two kinds of vision, and one is most assuredly better than the other. Faith (coughs, LoL). I hope to write on this someday, but I consider Faith a breaking of the box, a peeking outside, a sight unendingly penetrative, freeing me from the maybe-infinite bounds of Logic. Firmly founded on Faith in Christ, as Savior, I employ logic, but logic is not my firm foundation. Christ is.