Author |
Topic: Nothingness (Read 7171 times) |
|
Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Gender: 
Posts: 7527
|
 |
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #25 on: Dec 2nd, 2007, 11:11am » |
 Quote  Modify
|
and vice-versa.
|
|
 IP Logged |
|
|
|
JiNbOtAk
Uberpuzzler
Hana Hana No Mi
Gender:
Posts: 1187
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #26 on: Dec 5th, 2007, 9:17pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 2nd, 2007, 6:34am, rmsgrey wrote:
I'd have said "Nothing is the absence of everything" |
|
Ahh, but if everything is just that, every thing, when/how/where does nothing exist ?
on Sep 2nd, 2007, 2:05pm, SMQ wrote:
Well clearly, in that case, you have one imaginary apple. |
|
Umm, don't you mean you owe one imaginary apple ? 
|
|
IP Logged |
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
|
|
|
Ghost Sniper
Senior Riddler
Do not hide. It is useless.
Gender:
Posts: 599
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #27 on: Dec 6th, 2007, 4:59am » |
Quote Modify
|
I didn't read through this thread, but in my opinion, nothingness is sort of a paradox. I mean, if you have nothing, you have "nothing", meaning you have something. But, if you have everything, you will have to have "nothing" as well, but that is not possible.
|
|
IP Logged |
*sob* I miss my mommy... *blows nose* huh, I'm on? oh right.
(thinks to self) Time for my speech to these college kids.
"Reason is more important than all emotions..."
|
|
|
towr
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Some people are average, some are just mean.
Gender:
Posts: 13730
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #28 on: Dec 6th, 2007, 5:04am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 6th, 2007, 4:59am, Ghost Sniper wrote:| But, if you have everything, you will have to have "nothing" as well, but that is not possible. |
|
Are you saying the empty set is not a subset of the universal set (i.e. the set of everything)?
If you have a set, you have every subset (specifically the union of all subsets) 
Of course it's all a confusion of language; confusing (abstract) concepts with (physical) things and vice versa.
|
|
IP Logged |
Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
|
|
|
CHIMELA
Newbie
Posts: 10
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #29 on: Dec 6th, 2007, 4:38pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 6th, 2007, 4:59am, Ghost Sniper wrote:| I mean, if you have nothing, you have "nothing", meaning you have something. |
|
However, "nothing" is the lack of something. You do not have "something" if you have "nothing".
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Gender:
Posts: 7527
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #30 on: Dec 7th, 2007, 4:04am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 6th, 2007, 4:38pm, CHIMELA wrote:| However, "nothing" is the lack of something. |
|
The lack of what more specifically?
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
SMQ
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Gender:
Posts: 2084
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #31 on: Dec 7th, 2007, 5:49am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 5th, 2007, 9:17pm, JiNbOtAk wrote:| Umm, don't you mean you owe one imaginary apple ? |
|
No, I don't believe I do.
If you have 3 apples, you have three real apples, yes? And if you have -2 apples, you owe two real apples, yes? So if you have  apples, as he-who-shall-not-be-here-named asked, you have one imaginary apple. If you owed an imaginary apple you would have - apples. 
--SMQ
|
|
IP Logged |
--SMQ
|
|
|
Random Lack of Squiggily Lines
Senior Riddler
Everything before 7/1/2008 is now irrelevant.
Gender:
Posts: 460
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #32 on: Dec 7th, 2007, 10:05am » |
Quote Modify
|
in my opinion, dark is a level of light,
and quiet is a level of noisy...
and lie is a level of truth...
and imperfection is a level of the unreachable perfection
|
| « Last Edit: Dec 7th, 2007, 10:07am by Random Lack of Squiggily Lines » |
IP Logged |
You can only believe i what you can prove, and since you have nothing proven to cmpare to, you can believe in nothing.
I have ~50 posts to hack a "R" into a "D". Which one?
|
|
|
ThePriest
Newbie
Gender:
Posts: 16
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #33 on: Dec 9th, 2007, 5:47am » |
Quote Modify
|
The definition of darkness and quietness depends upon (limited by) our sensory capabilities, we cannot simply say that they exist, just because we are not able to see that minutest part of light or hear the molecules of an element rumble, these are all abstractions. If you look with a night vision system, darkness doesn't exist, or use some kind of ultrasound mic, then quietness doesn't exist. Just because we cannot see the nearby tree in the dark doesn't mean that it doesn't exist
For nothingnes always existed within itself. 
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
towr
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Some people are average, some are just mean.
Gender:
Posts: 13730
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #34 on: Dec 9th, 2007, 7:16am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 9th, 2007, 5:47am, ThePriest wrote:| If you look with a night vision system, darkness doesn't exist |
|
That depends very much on where you look. If you take a submarine, go down into the Mariana trench, and try to look outside with your night vision system you'll see nothing, unless you also brought a light.
A night vision system still relies on there being some light.
Chances are a night vision system already won't help you to see much if you go sit inside your fridge and close it properly.
|
|
IP Logged |
Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
|
|
|
Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Gender:
Posts: 7527
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #35 on: Dec 9th, 2007, 8:09am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 9th, 2007, 5:47am, ThePriest wrote:If you look with a night vision system, darkness doesn't exist.
[...]
Just because we cannot see the nearby tree in the dark doesn't mean that it doesn't exist |
|
Just because you cannot see the darkness doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
ThePriest
Newbie
Gender:
Posts: 16
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #36 on: Dec 11th, 2007, 2:40am » |
Quote Modify
|
Well said, what i wanted to convey was that our definition of darkness is limited by the means that we use to measure it. ( i was not promoting some underwater marine based night vision goggles made by RayBan 
No body can measure darkness, one can only measure the presence of light, not it's absence. It can be low, ver low, absolutely low or completely naught . In the same way silence cannot be measured , only the level of sound. If something cannot be measured it cannot exist. Am i wrong ?
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
mikedagr8
Uberpuzzler
A rich man is one who is content; not wealthy.
Gender:
Posts: 1105
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #37 on: Dec 11th, 2007, 3:06am » |
Quote Modify
|
In the Kabbalah, there are three levels of nothing. Ain; which is nothing, Ain Sof; no end or limitless end, and Ain Sof Aur; limitless light. So maybe its not dark which represents nothing, it is light. Like on a plain piece of paper, the absence of something , what can be seen is white.
Well, at least on the A4 paper I commonly use .
Someone correct me please, If I am incorrect here.
|
| « Last Edit: Dec 11th, 2007, 3:06am by mikedagr8 » |
IP Logged |
"It's not that I'm correct, it's that you're just not correct, and so; I am right." - M.P.E.
|
|
|
towr
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Some people are average, some are just mean.
Gender:
Posts: 13730
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #38 on: Dec 11th, 2007, 5:20am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 11th, 2007, 2:40am, ThePriest wrote:| No body can measure darkness, one can only measure the presence of light, not it's absence. |
|
Doesn't measuring do both? It says to what degree there is light and to what degree there it is absent. Moreso because for a finite volume of space there is a finite number of quantum states it can be in, and so a maximum amount of light (photons) that can be contained in it. So both presence and absence are precisely each others compliment. In as far as it is not dark it is light, and in as far as it is not light it is dark; just as a glass may at the same time be described as half full and half empty, or three quarters full and one quarter empty.
Quote:| If something cannot be measured it cannot exist. Am i wrong ? |
|
You could measure darkness by noting how much more light you can add to a volume of space. Just as you might measure lightness by how much you can remove from the volume.
But note that just because something can be measured, it doesn't mean that it ultimately exists (in itself).
|
|
IP Logged |
Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
|
|
|
rmsgrey
Uberpuzzler
    
Gender:
Posts: 2873
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #39 on: Dec 11th, 2007, 5:55am » |
Quote Modify
|
Can you measure happiness? If not, does that mean I must be miserable?
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
towr
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Some people are average, some are just mean.
Gender:
Posts: 13730
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #40 on: Dec 11th, 2007, 5:59am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 11th, 2007, 5:55am, rmsgrey wrote:| Can you measure happiness? If not, does that mean I must be miserable? |
|
Not if you can't measure miserableness either
|
|
IP Logged |
Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
|
|
|
Random Lack of Squiggily Lines
Senior Riddler
Everything before 7/1/2008 is now irrelevant.
Gender:
Posts: 460
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #41 on: Dec 12th, 2007, 4:48am » |
Quote Modify
|
you can see darkness, the absent ness of light.
|
|
IP Logged |
You can only believe i what you can prove, and since you have nothing proven to cmpare to, you can believe in nothing.
I have ~50 posts to hack a "R" into a "D". Which one?
|
|
|
Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Gender:
Posts: 7527
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #42 on: Dec 12th, 2007, 8:01am » |
Quote Modify
|
It reminds me of the joke of the guy who lights a match after going to bed. When asked why, he says he wanted to check that the light was off.
|
| « Last Edit: Dec 13th, 2007, 12:03am by Grimbal » |
IP Logged |
|
|
|
CHIMELA
Newbie
Posts: 10
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #43 on: Dec 12th, 2007, 4:15pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 12th, 2007, 8:01am, Grimbal wrote:| It reminds me of the joke of the guy who lights a match after going to bed. When asked why, he says he wanted to check whether that the light was off. |
|
Wow. I can't believe it took me ten seconds to understand that joke.
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Random Lack of Squiggily Lines
Senior Riddler
Everything before 7/1/2008 is now irrelevant.
Gender:
Posts: 460
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #44 on: Dec 18th, 2007, 1:54pm » |
Quote Modify
|
it all geos down to this
is the absence of something considered a state, or not
|
|
IP Logged |
You can only believe i what you can prove, and since you have nothing proven to cmpare to, you can believe in nothing.
I have ~50 posts to hack a "R" into a "D". Which one?
|
|
|
Icarus
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Boldly going where even angels fear to tread.
Gender:
Posts: 4863
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #45 on: Jan 4th, 2008, 8:19pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Dec 12th, 2007, 8:01am, Grimbal wrote:| It reminds me of the joke of the guy who lights a match after going to bed. When asked why, he says he wanted to check that the light was off. |
|
It reminds me of No Content On Saturdays
|
|
IP Logged |
"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
|
|
|
Random Lack of Squiggily Lines
Senior Riddler
Everything before 7/1/2008 is now irrelevant.
Gender:
Posts: 460
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #46 on: Jan 5th, 2008, 5:33pm » |
Quote Modify
|
well obviously the light is on, for he would not be able to find a light a match in darkness
|
|
IP Logged |
You can only believe i what you can prove, and since you have nothing proven to cmpare to, you can believe in nothing.
I have ~50 posts to hack a "R" into a "D". Which one?
|
|
|
Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Gender:
Posts: 7527
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #47 on: Jan 6th, 2008, 2:07pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Jan 5th, 2008, 5:33pm, tiber13 wrote:| well obviously the light is on, for he would not be able to find a light a match in darkness |
|
Not necessarily. He could be blind.
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
CHIMELA
Newbie
Posts: 10
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #48 on: Jan 6th, 2008, 5:49pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Jan 6th, 2008, 2:07pm, Grimbal wrote:
Not necessarily. He could be blind. |
|
...and he wanted to check if the light was off?
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
towr
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Some people are average, some are just mean.
Gender:
Posts: 13730
|
|
Re: Nothingness
« Reply #49 on: Jan 7th, 2008, 12:17am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Jan 6th, 2008, 5:49pm, CHIMELA wrote:| ...and he wanted to check if the light was off? |
|
Well, he can't very well see whether it's off.
|
|
IP Logged |
Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
|
|
|
|
RIDDLES SITE
WRITE MATH!
Home 
Help 
Search 
Members 
Login 
Register
Reply
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print