From: chinagreenelvis@gmail.com   
      
   On Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 8:43:20 AM UTC-4, litewave wrote:   
   > On Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 2:16:31 PM UTC+2, Eric Vinyard wrote:   
   > > On Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 8:14:44 AM UTC-4, Eric Vinyard wrote:   
   > > > On Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 7:52:00 AM UTC-4, litewave wrote:   
   > > > > On Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 4:50:47 AM UTC+2, Eric Vinyard wrote:    
   > > > > > Let's get metaphysical.   
   > > > > >    
   > > > > > If there is nothing, does it mean anything is possible?   
   > > > >    
   > > > > (Logically) possible = consistently defined. Total nothing is not   
   possible because it is not consistently defined.   
   > > >    
   > > > Sure, but what I'm asking is if what we think of as "nothingness" is the   
   same thing as "pure potential"?   
   > >    
   > > It's the only way I can imagine "something" coming from "nothing". But   
   then, it's not *really* nothing, is it?   
   >    
   > That's the point, it's not really nothing. It may be like a starting point   
   of the universe where there is no spacetime yet, no energy, just laws of   
   quantum mechanics and general relativity that enable transition from this   
   state of "nothing" to a state    
   with spacetime and energy. That's what physicist Lawrence Krauss called   
   "nothing" in his book A Universe From Nothing, and he was criticized for it,   
   because laws of physics are not nothing.   
      
   Yeah, in that sense "nothing" is just the lack of specific things. And we   
   don't really know all of the "things" that are involved - we don't even know   
   what "spacetime" actually IS - because the deeper we look the more   
   "elementary" particles we find.    
   Quantum physics I guess is getting closer by defining the things that make   
   quarks as "bends" in the fabric of spacetime, but it's still basically   
   speculation right now, isn't it?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)