Why is there anything at all? / something rather than nothing

[Manjushri]

title

[Nahm]

What thing?

[Joseph Maynor]

Why is there the thought you’re thinking to ask this question?

First of all, how would you even recognize “nothing”?  Second of all, “something” seems to make a monolith of many things that are not similar.

You’ve pitted two abstract words together and formulated a deep-sounding question which it’s hard to find an answer to because the question itself is problematic.

You can make the question more specific and you get something like — Why are there cats instead of no cats?  Why are there continents instead of no continents?  Why is there fear instead of no fear?  Why are there humans instead of no humans?  Why are there planets instead of no planets?  Why is there conflict instead of no conflict?

Edited November 17, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Manjushri]

@Nahm Thank you for the laugh 

[Nahm]

@Gligorije any time.

[non_nothing]

Whats no-thing?

[cetus]

What is beyond something and no-thing can't be grasped by the mind.

 

[LastThursday]

The question has no answer. Because if your 'something' is the whole of your reality, then your 'nothing' must contained within reality itself, which means it must be part of 'something'. The only way out, is to say that 'something' IS 'nothing', in which case the question no longer makes sense.

Another way to attack it, is to ask what you mean by 'Why?'. This is just a shorthand way of saying 'What is the cause of?'. The problem with this is one of infinite regress, you just keep asking 'why?' and there is always a previous cause.  The shape of the web of cause and effect, is either like a tree that has one final trunk, which was the 'first cause' (Big Bang for example), or more likely it's like a braided ribbon, where everything has been caused by everything else without a beginning. The problem with the 'first cause' idea is that the only way out, is again to equate the 'first cause' with 'nothing'. The problem with the 'braided ribbon' idea, is that there isn't really any cause and effect as such, because everything is caused by everything else (i.e. it's all one inseparable mess, or non-duality if you like).

[Manjushri]

@Joseph Maynor @Joseph Maynorp

pls write a reply instead of editing, i almost missed it

[Ananta]

2 hours ago, Shiva said:

Maybe there is just nothing and what you consider as "something" is actually what "nothing" is. 

Exactly.

"Nondualism, also called non-duality, means "not two" or "one undivided without a second"."

 

 

[lmfao]

@Gligorije Your question has no meaning my friend. 

[FoxFoxFox]

@Gligorije Who says there are things?