Nothing
01-23-2004, 06:58 PM
#341
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Originally posted by bcoffield
Turn that camera around and take a picture!
Turn that camera around and take a picture!
There might be some more that I don't about. And if you are in Miami you'll see me in person.
01-24-2004, 11:33 AM
#343
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Melbourne Beach, FL
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Often when we talk of nothing we must be careful to avoid talking as if there was a thing called nothing. That is when we say 'the box contained nothing' we do not mean that there was a thing in the box called 'nothing'. We mean that there did not exist a thing such that that thing was in the box.
In fact, often we do not mean simply 'nothing' we mean 'nothing of interest'. If the box contained nothing at all, not even air, that would be of interest and we would say the box contained a vacuum. It is odd that the vacuum gets a special name over and above 'nothing'. Other types of nothing also get special names, e.g. 'spandrel' or 'doorway'.
Talking of 'the vacuum' is not problematic as it is a clearly definable physical state. If someone asserts that 'the universe was created from nothing' and all they mean by 'nothing' is a vacuum then there is no problem with this sort of nothing. (however implausible the physics of the statement are.) The vacuum can be expressed in field theoretic terms, its properties can be worked out and it even has causal effects.
If on the other hand by 'nothing' they mean some sort of absolute nothing (a lack of anything, not even a vacuum or the background of spacetime and the laws of physics), which I will call 'nothing at all', that seems more problematic. This 'nothing at all' is not a thing. It is not a state. There are no properties of 'nothing at all'. Even giving it a name seems illogical, because there is nothing to name. Using the pronoun 'it' in the previous sentences seems contradictory because the circumstance I am talking about is that there is no 'it'.
I am wondering if this concept of 'nothing at all' is at all meaningful. Are there any reasonable questions or statements which might refer to this 'nothing at all'?
For example, can we ask 'Why does the universe exist? Why isnt there just nothing at all? No matter, no energy, no fields, no spacetime, no physical laws, nothing.'
Charter Member
01-24-2004, 01:13 PM
#349
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Sure is. It totally bombed. My next is going to be Dell. Not very technologically advanced but if I decide to chuck it won't break.
I have had 3 PCs in a year. I hate to say it but my Mac is the only one still standing. I HATE MAC! but the imagining is great. I'm learning the ins and out of ADOBE. He he he.
I have had 3 PCs in a year. I hate to say it but my Mac is the only one still standing. I HATE MAC! but the imagining is great. I'm learning the ins and out of ADOBE. He he he.
