does nothingness exist?

Question

scientifically it has to, otherwise the universe does not balance. IE if 0 did not exist then modern physics and maths would be useless. However where does nothingness exist? outer space maybe? an area of space that contains nothing... except it contains volume, massive amounts of volume really... so where is nothingness? If you imagine it then its not nothing because its present in your head.... ahh the weird philisophical dilema

okay i dont mean nothingness like, theres nothing in an empty room or something, i mean mathematical nothingness, a state that cant even be described, visualized or even thought about because it really is 0

Answer 1

The hearts of our republican leadership

or the head of the president?

More philosophy.

Answer 2

Man has created a series of rules to enable the manipulation of numbers and to try and explain the world around us. Those rules include the concept of nothingness. However, I do not believe in nothingness in the real world. An empty space may contain nothing but it is still a space and therefore something.

Answer 3

I use a simple rule to define existence where it is outside of my existence. If I can think of it, it must therefore exist at least in my mind.

Therefore, nothingness must exist as I can understand the concept of there being nothing.

However, if nothingness does exist where does it exist as you have asked?

We also can imagine the concept of the imaginary number plane, or complex numbers. Where i is the square root of -1, and i x i = -1.

The imaginary plane therefore exists in our imagination, just as nothingness exists in our imagination.

Space is clearly not nothingness. If it were then so would part of us. Space is just the void, which occurs between matter. Just as atoms are made up of protons, neutrons and electrons with space between them, so the universe is made up of stars (such as our sun) and planets orbiting them.

As a void is only a finite nothingness, it does not count. Nothingness must be infinite for it to be truly nothing.

As such it can only exist in our imagination, similar to the imaginary plane in complex analysis.

Answer 4

As Wittgenstein would say, this is a language game. Not only does it depend on your definition of "nothingness", but it depends on what you mean by "exist". Then once you start talking about it, you get all twisted up in difficult sentences.

It could be said that everything "exists" in some sense (a thing is something by definition), yet some things are said to not exist because they only exist as "words in the English language" or as concepts for "nonexistent" things which give meaning to other things that do "exist". In other words, many things can be said to "exist" or "not exist", depending on the definitions we make use of.

One could say that nothingness is only the absence of things, and in that sense doesn't exist. The conversation could go on for hours without arriving at an understanding of what it means or how this relates to the world around you, because of the confusing array of possible definitions and alternate interpretations of tricky phrases.

Interesting conversation for sure, but a language game that can easily lead to misunderstanding.

In my opinion, nothingness is often inappropriately reified into something that it is not, through the misuse of language (mainly equivocation). Then again, "nothingness" could clearly mean something more than merely "nothing". It would be relatively easier to argue that "nothing" is not "something" (or anything)--but "nothingness" seems different: more like a condition that could "exist" in the normal sense.

If "space" (the space of physics) is "nothingness", then it would make sense (to me) to say that is "exists" in some sense. However, to admit this could lead to very illogical conclusions, if one were so inclined.

Existentialists use nothingness to mean a particular human state wherein we "experience nothingness", which to me usually seems vague. It has to do with our alone-ness in the word (either within society or the universe), or the vacuousness of the self (upon examination, the self tends to "disappear"), etc. This type of nothingness definitely exists, but what exactly it is can be hard to comprehend.

In the case of mathematics, the question of whether our equations "represent" or are analogous to "reality" (something that exists) is complicated. Specifically, the concept of zero I believe does adequately represent something, but that something may not be what one calls "nothing". There may be a quantity of zero "things", and while that "thing" has a clear sense of "existing", it isn't clear at all what it would mean to say that the quantity of zero exists. If by this you mean that it exists as a concept or word, or that there are some existing things which occasionally number zero in quantity, then it exists. But if we consider only a particular scenario (or "system") where a particular thing numbers zero in quantity, then in what sense does that thing "exist" within that system?

Having admitted that it all depends on definitions, and ultimately is a language game, here is my attempt at an answer:

Suppose we define "nothing" as "nonexistent things". This could be a perfectly valid definition, I believe. We've said that by definition it doesn't exist. To analyze the definition further, we see that "nothing = nonexistent things", therefore no "thing" is nonexistent. In other words, anything that counts as a "thing" exists by definition, and "nothing" is not a "thing". To my mind, this is a coherent position to hold, is intelligible, and in keeping with the common usage of the word.

"Nothing" is not the same as "nothingness", as I see it. Nothingness does exist, because it could sensibly refer to our experience rather than some entity outside of our experience which is magically "nothing" yet "something". We do experience the fact that "no thing" does not exist, yet contemplation of the concept of nothing produces a certain feeling which does exist. This feeling could range from dread and alone-ness to perhaps peaceful bliss. This sort of Existentialist concept of "nothingness" exists, in my opinion.

Answer 5

Well there's a theory that in universe about 70% is made up of two thing called dark matter and dark energy. But these thing can't be measured or detectable by any standards that exist at the moment! By the way particles do exist in space but there isn't enough of them to be recognisable.

Answer 6

I think that there is nothing come out of nothing, but nothing as a word exist only in the dictionary to represent it self as the state of no existence at all. from mathematics point of view 0 does exist to represent the state of no volume at all and it has a definition as it has a unique place on the number's line..

Answer 7

sounds like you're attempting to persuade your self of this. Nothingness is the absence of something. the inability of having something or something. accordingly it may no longer exist, for it isn't. existence is: and different issues are. we can say something is (it exists). Absence/nothingness isn't. hence no matter if it isn't, it won't be able to be. comprehend? it may both be or no longer be. And nothingness isn't, accordingly it won't be able to be.

Answer 8

Theorhetically yes, it can be defined and therefore the concept exists. In reality it is unlikely that there is any such place anywhere in the Universe that has no matter or waves or anything inside it. Especially if darkmatter exists as they claim it can move through anything unhindered.

But then darkmatter doesn't exist so don't worry about that.

Answer 9

Everything else exists in nothingness. Nothingness is not 0. Nothing is just that nothing. It does not have any matter in it. Total vacuum.

Answer 10

When I talk to some people, I realize that "nothingness" is a valid state of mind for them.

Answer 11

Nothingness is the space enveloped by somethingness, for if nothingness is not enveloped then it cannot be measured and therefore in theory cannot exist - it does not emit (I forget the correct word) a force and cannot be affected by a force.