Nothing 72197 226160377 2008-07-17T02:32:08Z Useight 2910303 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/71.244.6.214|71.244.6.214]] to last version by ClueBot (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{articleissues|article=y|unreferenced=July 2007|wikify=March 2008}} {{otheruses1|"nothing" in the abstract sense}} {{redirect|None}} '''Nothing''' is a concept that describes the lack or absence of anything at all. Colloquially, the concept is often used to indicate the lack of anything relevant or significant, or to describe a particularly unimpressive thing, event, or object. It is contrasted with [[something]] and [[everything]]. In some Eastern philosophies the concept of "nothingness" is characterized by an egoless state of being in which one can see the true relation of one's own small part in the cosmos. ==Language and logic== Grammatically, the word "nothing" is an [[indefinite pronoun]], which means that it [[refer]]s to something. This can lead to confusion; "nothing" is a concept, concepts are things, so the concept of "nothing" is a thing. This fallacy is neatly demonstrated by the old joke, if nothing is worse than the [[Devil]], and nothing is greater than [[God]], then the Devil must be greater than God: Devil > (nothing), (nothing) > God Devil > (nothing) > God Devil > God The simplest meaning is: no thing. So if "nothing" is said to be in a particular place, Than it is to have the same meaning as "no thing" and would therefore mean that there is "no thing" in a particular spot. Clauses can often be restated to avoid the appearance that "nothing" possesses an attribute: "There is nothing in the basement" can be restated as "There is not one thing in the basement". "Nothing is missing" can be restated as "everything is present". Conversely, many fallacious conclusions follow from treating "nothing" as a noun. Modern [[logic]] made it possible to articulate these points coherently as intended, and many philosophers hold that the word "nothing" does not function as a noun: there is not any object it refers to. There are still various opposing views, though: that, for example, our understanding of the world rests essentially on noticing absences and lacks as well as presences, and that "nothing" and related words serve to indicate these. ==Philosophy== The concept of "nothing" has been studied throughout history by [[philosopher]]s and [[theologians]]; many have found that careful consideration of the notion can easily lead to the logical fallacy of [[reification (fallacy)|reification]]. (If one does not believe that nothing is no thing.) However, many of the [[existentialist]] and [[postmodern]] philosophers and writers would argue that Nothing is actually the lack or absence of something, rather than of anything.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} The understanding of 'nothing' varies widely between cultures, especially between Western and Eastern cultures and philosophical traditions. For instance, [[Shunyata]] (emptiness), unlike "nothingness", is considered a state of [[mind]] in some forms of [[Buddhism]] (see [[Nirvana]], [[mu (negative)|mu]], and [[Bodhi]]. See also [[soku hi]] in [[Kyoto school]]). Achieving 'nothing' as a state of mind in this tradition allows someone to be totally 'focused' (in the Western sense of the word) on a thought or activity at a level of intensity they would not be able to achieve if they were '[[consciousness|consciously]]' thinking. The classic example of this is an archer drawing a bow, attempting to erase his mind as a way to better focus on the shot. Existentialism and [[Martin Heidegger]] have brought these two understandings closer together.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} ==Science== In [[mathematics]], ''nothing'' does not have a technical meaning. It could be said that a [[set]] contains "nothing" [[if and only if]] it is the [[empty set]], in which case its [[cardinality]] (or [[Dimension|size]]) is [[0 (number)|zero]]. In other words, the word "nothing" is an informal term for an [[empty set]]. However, since two [[subtraction|minus]] two is also called nothing, it could also refer to the number zero. In [[physics]], the word ''nothing'' is not used in any technical sense. A region of space is called a [[vacuum]] if it does not contain any [[matter]]. But it can contain physical [[field (physics)|fields]]. In fact, it is practically impossible to construct a region of space which contains no matter or fields, since gravity cannot be blocked and all objects at a non-[[zero temperature]] radiate [[electromagnetic radiation|electromagnetically]]. However, supposing such a region existed, it would still not be "nothing", since it has properties and a measurable existence as part of the [[Vacuum#Quantum-mechanical definition|quantum-mechanical vacuum]]. In [[computing]], "nothing" ([[VB.Net]]), or "null" ([[Java]], [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], others), can be a keyword used to represent an unassigned [[variable]], or a [[pointer (computing)|pointer]] that does not point to any particular [[memory address]], or a [[reference (computer science)|reference]] that does not refer to a specific object. Similarly, Null is used in SQL as a symbolic representation of the absence of data. This [[meta-data]] usage of "null" is different from the unprintable [[ASCII]] and [[unicode]] [[null character]], which has a numerical value of zero — although it is different from the ASCII character for zero ("0"). The ASCII [[blank]] character (" ") is not the same as an empty [[String (computer science)|string]] (""), which is itself sometimes confused with the null pointer in languages such as [[C (programming language)|C]]. Most forms of [[assembly language]] have a no-operation ([[nop]]) instruction (often with a numerical value of zero) — that is, a command to do nothing, which can prove useful for blanking out areas of problem code. ==See also== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} * [[Blank]] * [[Big Bang]] * [[Empty set]] * [[Everything]] * [[Ex nihilo]] * [[Existentialism]] * [[False vacuum]] * [[wiktionary:nada|Nada]] * [[Negation (linguistics)]] * [[Negative theology]] {{col-2}} * [[Nihilism]] * [[No]] * [[Nobody]] * [[NOP]] * [[Nothing comes from nothing]] * [[Nowhere]] {{col-2}} * [[Null]] * [[Shunyata]] * [[Vacuous truth|Vacuous truth]] * [[Vacuum]] * [[Void]] * [[Zero]] {{col-end}} == Further reading == *[[Being and Nothingness]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] *Church Dogmatics III/3, pp. 389-368, [[Karl Barth]] *[http://www.pentapublishing.com In Search of a Cyclops], Fredrick Schermer *[http://www.nothing.com Nothing.com] *[http://www.southperth.wa.gov.au/media_releases/docs/2007/July/MR%20Speaking%20with%20Conf.pdf ''Speech - Something About nothing''] *''The Book of Nothing '', [[John D Barrow]] *[http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2001/01/26/cole/index.html ''The Hole in the Universe''], K.C. Kole *[http://www.maa.org/reviews/nothing.html ''The Nothing That Is''], [[Robert Kaplan]] *[[Brian rotman|Signifying Nothing: ''The Semiotics of Zero'']], [[Brian Rotman]] *[http://www.users.cloud9.net/~cgseife/zero.html ''Zero''], [[Charles Seife]] == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Nothing| ]] [[Category:Philosophical terminology]] [[Category:Perception]] [[Category:Ontology]] [[Category:Value]] [[ar:العدم]] [[cs:Absence]] [[de:Nichts]] [[es:Nada]] [[eo:Nenio]] [[fr:Néant]] [[it:Nulla]] [[la:Nihil]] [[nl:Het Niets]] [[no:Ingenting]] [[pl:Niebyt]] [[pt:Nada]] [[ksh:Nüüß (wie jaanix)]] [[ru:Ничто]] [[sr:Ништа]] [[sv:Ingenting]] [[yi:גארנישט]] [[zh:無]]