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 November 2nd, 2012, 07:04 PM #1 Newbie   Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Proving that nothing does not exist I wasn't sure where to put this thread, but here it goes. I applied some mathematical view to the daily language while studying demonstration. Proving that nothing does not exist Consider the following hypothesis by definition: 1. (There's nothing) -> (There's the absence of everything) 2. (There's nothing) -> (There's the absence of everything) -> (There's the absence of the absence of everything)¹ -> (There's everything) -> ~(There's the absence of everything) And consider the following hypothesis by logic: 3. (There's nothing) v ~(There's nothing)² 4. ~[(There's the absence of everything) ^ ~(There's the absence of everything)]³ By 1 and 2, we have: 5. (There's nothing) -> (There's the absence of everything) ^ ~(There's the absence of everything) By 5 and 3, we have: 6. [(There's the absence of everything) ^ ~(There's the absence of everything)] v ~(There's nothing) By 6 and 4, we have: 7. ~(There's nothing) Q.E.D. ¹ - Cause "everything" includes the "absence of everything", since "absence of everything" is something. ² - Law of excluded middle ³ - Law of non-contradiction As a result, the space is not full of nothing. Cause nothing does not exist. Is the demonstration right?
 November 2nd, 2012, 08:44 PM #2 Math Team     Joined: Jul 2011 From: North America, 42nd parallel Posts: 3,372 Thanks: 233 Re: Proving that nothing does not exist I think the ancient greeks also reasoned that nothing cannot exist, but their argument was not as elaborate as yours. Their reasoning was something like, 'suppose what exists is divided some way, that which divides it must be something that does not exist, and this is a contradiction, for if IT does not exist, how can IT divide something else?!? So the greeks had no symbol for zero because they refused to invent something that cannot exist, finding the idea 'existence of nonexistence' quite objectionable. Zero exists and is very useful... but you run into problems when you try to use it to divide.
November 3rd, 2012, 10:55 AM   #3
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Re: Proving that nothing does not exist

Quote:
 Originally Posted by charlie_sheep Is the demonstration right?
No, it is an antinomy based on the loose definitions of "something" and "nothing".

 June 17th, 2013, 10:44 PM #4 Newbie   Joined: Jun 2013 Posts: 7 Thanks: 1 Re: Proving that nothing does not exist Have read about these theories in a blog somewhere on the internet. There was even an argument and what i concluded from that was nothing does not exist as nothing mean no presence and around us there is air every where if you know what i mean then you will sure get it. If there is air that means there is something every where around us but not nothing.
 June 18th, 2013, 12:00 AM #5 Math Team     Joined: Jul 2011 From: North America, 42nd parallel Posts: 3,372 Thanks: 233 Re: Proving that nothing does not exist IMHO anything can exist in the imagination, depends on the creativity of the dreamer...Some imagination can become reality, like 0. Zero is a real, rational, even integer number. BTW it seems not well known that the Maya of the Yukatan Peninsula actually had 2 advanced positional base 20 number systems and both contained a symbol for 0, around 200 A.D.
 June 18th, 2013, 04:28 AM #6 Math Team   Joined: Oct 2011 From: Ottawa Ontario, Canada Posts: 12,392 Thanks: 828 Re: Proving that nothing does not exist MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING ====================== There's a whopping huge cosmic interchange out there. Half the time, "X" switches positions with "NOW". And this is the solution to many ageless puzzles. Follow me. To get going, we must first solve this mystery: -did it "start" or was it "always there"? -was there "always nothing" or was there "something"? If it "started", then right before "the start" there was "nothing". Why? Simple: if there was "something", you wouldn't get a "start". Instead, you would get a "carry on". Agree? Good. Let's carry on. Yes, I heard you...and I see it too: if we can prove that "nothing" is impossible, then by default there was always something. So let's do a nothing analysis. If we try and imagine "nothing" existing, we can't: try it. Darn it, we're always left with a handful of darkness, or a chunk of space, or a tiny wee atom thay simply refuses to disappear. Sorry to disappoint you, "Big Bang" pushers, but if as you say there was nothing, then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this mysterious "BANG", then tell us: what banged? Well, fellow philosophers, we've managed to kick nothing out. Therefore, there was always something. Hey: in other words, we got something out of nothing...who says philosophers don't make jokes! Think of it: there was always something. Always. You got it: we've just established a past eternity, or a past infinity. Good work. Gee, since past infinity means no beginning, then it automatically follows that there is no ending: you can't have one without the other. Hey, look at what we've just done: established a future eternity, in other words, a future infinity...Wow-Wee. Hey-hey, we're really getting somewhere. We now all agree on a two-way infinite flow. Let's depict this using a simple straight line. Let's show where we are "NOW" at the middle of that line, the "past" on the left, and the "future" on the right. Let's see: Code:  NOW | <_________PAST____________|_________FUTURE__________> Clear? Sure is. Before we proceed further toward "The Answer", let's pause here and reflect deeply on our "two-way infinity" diagram. We can clearly see two baffling facts: 1) Since infinity is equal to infinity (as 2 equals 2) then the past is always equal to the future, no matter when the "NOW" is. 2) Therefore, we always were, always are and always will be "right in the middle of it all". Forward: "The Answer" awaits. It has been proposed and it is believed that space is curved, that there is no such animal as a straight line, and that everything (not only woman) moves in a curvy fashion; sort of elliptical. Well, always "being straight" ain't all that much fun, so let's accept this curvature concept. If we don't, then we gotta leave our "two-way infinity" diagram the way it is, with stuff moving left and right eternally straight ...and that's boooooring... Ok dokay. Now, let's apply this curvistic and ellipsic knowledge to our infinite flow diagram. And here's what we get: Code:  ---> X <---- / \ / \ \ / \ NOW / ^__PAST___|___FUTURE__^ How does that grab you, honey? We can clearly see, beyond the shadow of Galileo, that not only is the past heading toward the future, but also that the future is heading toward the past. Hey: maybe we've just discovered the origin of the expression "the past always catches up with you". Finally, we're at "The Big Cosmic X:NOW Interchange". For the 64 thousand dollar question: what the heck happens at point "X" when these 2 rushing infinities meet? Big crash? Well, don't worry. It's very simple. Since all is smooth and symmetrical out there, the "NOW" and the "X" will simply change places, and all carries on as before...ye olde positional swap. Look see: Code:  __PAST______FUTURE__ / | \ / NOW \ \ / \ / ---> X <--- Ain't it all clear now? Life carries on, another "X" to shoot for, meet at "X" again, perform the cosmic hop...eternity right and left. In other words, we're all being taken for an infinite ride. I hear some of you objecting: that last flow diagram shows that for half the time, the past is moving ahead while the future is in reverse gear. Good point. But you'll agree that this does answer many puzzling questions: 1) Why do we feel we're wasting half our time living in the past? 2) Why do we often feel there's no future ahead? 3) Why do we get the feeling we're headed in the wrong direction? Well, let's figure out where we are after all this. We've established that we're always right in the middle of things, we're all in for a long ride, there's a big "X" somewhere out there, and we're getting nowhere fast half the time...to tell you the truth, I'm still as confused as ever. It was nice, you know: on the farm, 5 years old, real secure on that sready piece of flat earth. All I had to do was stay put, keep away from that deep edge a couple of miles off. But they started to educate me: all that rotating, ellipsing and spinning stuff. Well, think I'll forget all about these deep questions. No more. Over and out. Well...now...maybe...just maybe. Just maybe it did all start with nothing. How can I make this tiny wee atom vanish? Let's give it another shot. Now, if I imagine a huge pair of magical hands cupping up everything, squeezing it all down, then making it all vanish with the big POUFF like they do in magic shows...Ya! That's it! I see nothing! ...Oh no: that big pair of hands is still there. ...Suddenly, I'm very, very, very tired. ...I hear marbles dropping all over the place. ...They're coming to get me...HA-HA! HA-HA! Denis Borris. Thanks from jonah
 December 5th, 2015, 03:58 AM #7 Senior Member   Joined: Nov 2015 From: usa Posts: 152 Thanks: 0 If nothing existed it would still exist as nothing. Existence is infinite, time or substance is only a way of measuring parts of infinite existence. Again if nothing that you or anything could consider to be anything, would still exist as nothing, due to infinite existence. I hope you agree.
 December 5th, 2015, 09:27 AM #8 Senior Member   Joined: May 2008 Posts: 279 Thanks: 65 Beer soaked ramblings follow. Okay. Here's the poop, the whole poop, and nothing but the poop. You're trying to prove that the universe is all for nothing. All matter, all energy, all life, it's just this one-time-only big bang glitch. Expanding universe will eventually contract into a super dense black hole. Gravitational forces will be so strong that everything will get squeezed into a point of zero dimension, and "poof" the center disappears. No space, no time, no life, no afterlife, nothing. Nada, zilch, zip, zero. ---The Zero Theorem Nothing. The Big Nothing. That's what the Heys want. They worship nothing. Just listen to this Hey propaganda: Hey! (Nothing lasts forever.) Heey!! (Nothing is worth fighting for.) Heeey!!! (Yes, we have no bananas.) ---The Tick (Season 2, Episode 11)
 December 6th, 2015, 07:20 AM #9 Senior Member   Joined: Jun 2015 From: England Posts: 820 Thanks: 243 Of course nothing exists. I challenge anyone to use a toilet seat without the 'nothing' part and then assert that nothing does not exist. Topologically speaking if nothing does not exist then a doughnut is identical to potato.
 December 12th, 2015, 01:43 AM #10 Senior Member   Joined: Nov 2015 From: usa Posts: 152 Thanks: 0 potato potaato, Where does nothing touch everything. Nothing still is very important thing without nothing existing we could not have the contrast of something existing. I feel it relates to yin and yang.

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