logic

Move on. Nothing to See Here…

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Today we talk about “Nothing”. Not nothing, but “Nothing”. The difference? Read on.

The dictionary definition of nothing: “not anything, not one single thing, or having no prospect of progress, of no value.”

The definition of “Nothing”? Who the hell knows.

We understand “nothing” when someone asks: “What are you doing today?” Since we aren’t doing anything, we answer “Nothing.”

We understand when someone asks: “What we can do to help?” and since there isn’t anything they can do we answer “Nothing”. Or when your girlfriend breaks up with you (or you with her) and one or the other says “I feel nothing for you.” (BTW, ouch either way,)

But when someone says about an empty space “There is nothing in there.” Is that a true statement? It might not matter on earth but what is space made of and how do we measure it? What is in the space between you and me in an open field? Something?

Here’s the question that best defines “Nothing”: What existed before the Big Bang started everything? Ai tries to answer it with this: “While the Big Bang describes the origin and evolution of our observable universe, the question of what, IF ANYTHING, existed before it remains a mystery.” Is it possible there was Nothing before the Big Bang? NOTHING? (Yes, all caps.)

And ask this of your brain” If there is a border or an end to the universe (since there is a beginning “singularity”) what might be beyond the border? (Infinity will be discussed at a later date.) After the end? Even better, when you think of Nothing,  you are thinking of something, yes?

It’s here where one usually covers their ears and goes “Nah Nah Nah, no more!”

In earnest discussions of God, believers like to say God started everything but then ignore the inevitable next question: Where did God come from? It is then faith is invoked and we are asked to believe there was nothing/Nothing before God. Which is entirely possible, but it would have been nice if He had given us brains to understand simple things like Nothing. Even with the power of faith, “nothing” before God is hard to wrap a brain around.

But maybe we are not meant to understand Nothing. (Irony? Sarcasm?) Maybe we don’t need to understand Nothing. What good does it do? And why do we even think about it? Most times I asked my girlfriend what she was thinking about she’d answered: “Nothing.” Bullsh@#, of course, women are always thinking about something. It’s men who enjoy parsing nothing, thinking of nothing, and doing nothing, even during sporting events. Ipsa loquitur. Yes, latin, google it if you didn’t take Latin in school.

So when we are thinking of nothing, are we thinking of nothing or something we can’t imagine or comprehend? Nah nah, nah, nah…

We should stop worrying about nothing, especially in this lifetime and hope, HOPE there is something after a lifetime of worrying about Nothing.

See? There’s nothing to fret about…it’s all good.

I wish Abbot and Costello were still alive. They’d have an answer. Google “who’s on First?” Logic and reason in 6 minutes…

No more…I’m lost in Abbott and Costello videos…

Is it really the end of the world?

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A lot of left leaning friends are distraught, to say the least, about January 20, 2025. Most of them were distraught about January 6, 2021, as well.

Distraught: adjective, deeply upset and agitated.

Distraught is probably the best word to use when a convicted felon becomes president and pardons other convicted felons simply because those “other felons” adore the new president. A whole bunch of MAGAs are getting out of their seats to protest: “What about Biden?” They prove a point about themselves: they can never argue or debate without using the “Whataboutsomeoneelse” defense. Maybe I’ll take the time to illustrate the differences, later, or maybe I’ll just sit in my chair and not waste time.

And so starts another four years of you-know-who. Somewhere in America is a subset of voters wondering if there are any good, decent men and women left in America. One thing not needing debate is that every four years we are going to have half the country feeling “distraught” in January. Except billionaires. They’re happy all the time.

Meantime, science leaps and bounds its way into the future. Northwestern University in Chicago has reported the first “demonstration of quantum teleportation over internet cables”. Look back at my post about Quantum Entanglement this past summer and you’ll see why my brain blew up with this news, and think it far more important than our new, orange disaster.

Mercedes Benz has developed fully operational hydrogen powered engine to replace diesel engines in trucks. Ever been behind a diesel truck chugging up a hill? The WaVe, funded by the German Government, has out-ftted a formerly diesel powered “implement carrier” with the new engine. All that comes out of the tail pipe is water. Finally, something we can all “get behind”. (NO. I swear it’s not pun…on purpose.)

A paralyzed man has flown a virtual drone using brain implants. Another paralyzed man used implants to send texts. Another is learning how to use brain implants to control a “robot exe-skeleton”, and take steps. If you know–and empathize for–a paralyzed person, there is hope. Sidebar: Chinese scientists have “scheduled” the first Robot Marathon (yes, a MARATHON for ROBOTS) for sometime in April, 2025. In China. Along the route will they want water bottle stations? Oil?

Canadian scientists have learned to “disguise” cancer tumors to “look similar to pig organs” and trick our immune systems into attacking the cancer cells. Canada is not our 51st state, yet, but they get kudos for finally–and hopefully– finding the answer to the “immune system attacking cancer tumor” concept that’s been around for some time. No harsh chemo or radiation…hopefully.

There’s more, but the point is the world will keep moving forward no matter what the color of the American President: Black, White, or Orange. And look at the opportunity for more billionaires. We might see a “trillionaire” soon, too. Huzzah!

As long as we stay out of the way of science.

Oh, and logic.

Can’t resist adding–might add one every post– a Steven Wright quote: “If you were going to shoot a mime, would you use as a silencer?”

Logic.

Morality? Logic? God? Belief?

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The subjects listed above are “hot button” philosophy subjects debated, discussed, and verbally torn to shreds over the many centuries since man gained enough free time to stare at his navel. Morality is a major topic because it underpins the nature of society, at least a successful one. For my money, I always thought morality came from God. All Christians feel the same way, and it puts atheists in a bad jam: how can atheists be moral if they do not believe in, and hear the Word of God (WOG) directing them?

I did an end run around the conundrum by accepting full-throated agnosticism and allowed morality to be the WOG, if He actually existed. Lazy, lazy, lazy man. There are those among the enlightened who think the existence of evil negates the concepts of morality as the WOG and dumps the whole idea of Morality into a recycle bin for another generation to bring up and hash, I mean, hack to pieces.

At my age its hard to learn a new trick but just now I stumbled upon an article that sparked an “Aha” moment. Entitled “How a Huguenot Philosopher Realized That Atheists Could Be Virtuous” by Michael Hickson, the author exposed me to a philosopher heretofore not on my reading list: Pierre Bayle. In Mr. Bayle’s book “Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet” published in 1682, Mr. Bayle presented an argument for atheism that settled once and for all the question of atheism and morality.

“It is no stranger for an atheist to live virtuously than it is strange for a Christian to live criminally. We see the latter sort of monster all the time, so why should we think the former is impossible?”

In 1682. It is a statement loaded with Logic. (capitalized to show how important it is). Logic. What a wonderful thing. Logic. No matter how many times I say it, it keeps its meaning. Logic is “a particular way of thinking, especially one that is reasonable and based on good judgement” says an unknown google writer, probably an AI personality. No, they didn’t have AI in 1682, nor did they have the benefit of instant communication. Mr. Bayle’s statement, therefore, about the “sort of monster” he sees “all the time” must have been from first hand experience. Sadly, it is a statement as true today as 1682…343 years later. Religion, belief, morality, all seem unchanged after nearly four centuries. Why?

I’m getting the book and reading it, but–with apologies to Spock and all offended Star Trek fans–we might be better off with lives based on Logic instead of Belief. As a possible Clue, The Bible’s WOG “Golden Rule” is loaded more with logic than faith. You have to wonder why.

As usual, a short space makes for an oversimplification, but is it?

Of course it is, since the modern sophists among us can easily rip apart the “reasonable” and “good judgment” parts of googe’s AI statement, But will the rest of us let them?

In this day and age, Logic is taking a beating. Forget–for example–your politics and wonder how many good, reasonable, and moral people there in the world waiting for…aw, forget it. We pay football players more than we pay police. Is that logical?

We’re doomed, but I’m going to find out about that comet.