Calculating Nothing

[Guest guest]

There is something to what you are saying here Pete.

[seriously.... : ) ]

 

Much the same notion is developed by George Spencer Brown

in his book The Laws of Form.

 

I recently discovered a marvelous website treating of his work,

and leading in a very comprehensible way from basic non-dual

philosophy.

 

Here's a link:

http://www.integralscience.org/sacredscience/SS_play.html

 

From that webpage:

" Thought, description, and language can get no more fundamental than

to make

a distinction, for whenever we have any thing at all we have at least

one

distinction: the distinction between that thing and no-thing. No

matter what

it is, whether it be a fleeting thought in the mind, an irritating

itch on

the arm, a puffy cloud in the sky, or heavy sadness of the heart, all

things

rest on that one implicit distinction. Indeed, if there were no

distinction

at all, then there would be no thing at all. "

 

So zero, in your terms, could be thought of as the most fundamental

distinction.

 

Or you could say that the concept of nothing is the most fundamental

distinction.

 

Note that the *concept* of nothing is not nothing, it is something.

This

sort or puzzlement is discussed very lucidly on the webpage.

 

BTW, mathematically zero is called an " identity " element under

addition,

since anything plus zero is itself. The number one is an identity

element

under multiplication since any number times one is itself.

 

Zero does have a unique property in that any number times zero is

zero.

You might call zero a " black hole " number in this regard.

 

Another thing about zero is that it produces infinity. Any non-zero

number divided by zero is infinity. That is the only way to produce

infinity in a single step. Otherwise to produce infinity you need an

infinite number of steps, which is rather circular as far as defining

infinity is concerned.

 

And isn't it interesting that in zero we find both nothing and

infinity?

Reminds me of my favorite Nisargadatta quote:

 

Wisdom tells me I am nothing.

Love tells me I am everything.

And between the two my life flows.

 

So you see? You have to go into a black hole to find infinity... : )

 

Oh yes... one more thing...

Zero divided by zero is undefined. Now *there* we are really getting

somewhere.

 

That could be a new realization technique. Divide nothing by

nothing and you will become self-realized. [Pssst... you must

do *your own work*!]

 

Bill

 

 

-

" seesaw1us " <seesaw1us

<AdvaitaToZen >

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 12:22 PM

[AdvaitaToZen] Calculating Nothing

 

 

> Science in antiquity was top heavy with superstition, like one of

> those early XX

> Century

> airplanes unable to soar too high. In my opinion Science didn't get

> its wings

> until it accepted the idea of nothing in its calculations. Once

> mathematicians

> gave zero its

> rightful place among the numbers, science and technology took off.

>

> Early Christianity considered the idea of nothing so abhorrent that

> it made the

> first year of our Era, 1 AD, instead of 0 AD. This resulted in the

> fiasco of

> considering the year 2000 as the beginning of the 3rd Millennium,

> instead of the

> year 2001.

>

> We still feel 1 is the first number, when obviously we start from

> nothing. One

> in my opinion, is a zero in disguise. Any number divided by itself =

> 1, so it

> follows that

> 0 divided by 0 = 1 too. And Zero has the power to revert any number

> into zero.

> 1 times 0= 0. And so it's with any other number. The binary system

> used in

> computers is only a combination of zeros and ones. Or in other

words,

> Zeros and

> pseudo zeroes.

>

> And finally and uppers most, the total mass and energy of the

> universe being

> equally divide between the positive and the negative equals zero. So

> after all

> those transmutations and calculations all that started with nothing,

> ends in

> nothing.

>

> Just a few thoughts for the mathematical inclined which I am not. So

> address any

> questions to Bill.

>

> Pete

[Guest guest]

> > And finally and uppers most, the total mass and energy of the

> > universe being

> > equally divide between the positive and the negative equals zero.

 

 

Hi mathematician-Pete

 

 

How does this fit with the fact that the universe keeps, as far as I

know, expanding...waiting, so to say, for the " big crunch " . I don't

know! Are you already calculating with dark energy? :-))

 

 

sk

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta , " seesaw1us " <seesaw1us>

wrote:

 

snip

 

> > We still feel 1 is the first number, when obviously we start from

> > nothing. One

> > in my opinion, is a zero in disguise. Any number divided by

itself =

> > 1, so it

> > follows that

> > 0 divided by 0 = 1 too. And Zero has the power to revert any

number

> > into zero.

 

snip

 

i read somewhere sanskrit has the word " sunya " for zero, which leads

to the Buddhist sunyata;

equivalent of the advaitic " the One " (non-two of course)

so again

0 = 1

eric