Much ado about nothing -- Ben's Message Board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Tuesday, May 13, 09:23:11pm

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6], 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

Subject: Much ado about nothing

Author:
Wade A. Tisthammer

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 04/29/04 12:58pm
In reply to: Damoclese 's message, "understanding" on 04/28/04 7:00pm

>>If you redefine "nothing" to mean "a fluctuating sea
>>of energy" (and that's what a vacuum is, among other
>>things) then yes modern science supports the idea of
>>something coming from nothing. But clearly this is
>>not an example of a true violation of ex nihilo
>>nihil fit because "nothing" was used in a
>>very different sense then what is meant in the
>>Latin phrase.
>
>How so? "Nothing" modernly and classically simply
>means all that's left when everything that can be
>taken out is taken out.

Nothing is better defined as "the absence of all magnitude or quantity," the complete absence of anything and everything. Thus, a fluctuating sea of energy is not literal nothingness. Literal nothingness would mean a complete lack of anything, including a sea of energy.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
nothing from nothing leaves...nothing.	Damoclese	04/29/04 2:37pm
Beware the fallacy of equivocation. -- Wade A. Tisthammer, 05/ 2/04 3:20pm Imagining -- Damoclese, 05/ 4/04 9:43am Imagining ex nihilo -- Wade A. Tisthammer, 05/ 7/04 2:31pm End game -- Damoclese, 05/ 7/04 4:42pm Are ee ess pee ee see tee. -- Wade A. Tisthammer, 05/10/04 4:09pm