Why is there something rather than nothing? (Humans)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Wednesday, April 06, 2011, 23:24 (4776 days ago) @ David Turell

David
> Just wanted to be sure we're ok. I'll read and follow and make a comment now and then. I've got too many years of medical detective work behind me. I like concreteness and answers.-I hope you can see why certain questions (such as the title of this thread) don't lend themselves to the kind of answer you seek. Chicken and egg problems...-Here's another tact: It's a good question, but if we're talking about origins, it's not really a valid one. Abstracting the language, it's asking "Why is there [noun] rather than [adjective]?" -This structure should clue you in as to why the question is invalid. It should read, "Why is there [noun] instead of [noun]?" Yes you might accuse me of semantics, but I will counter with the fact that in propositional logic, we throw away arguments all the time simply because of their predicate structure--this is exactly one of those instances. You can only compare two like things--nouns to nouns, adjectives to adjectives. -Nothing is not a 'thing,' which is exactly why East trumps West in its discussion. Nothing is less than a "placeholder," the mathematical "Empty Set." An adjective presupposes the existence of the thing to which it describes, therefore "Universe" and "Nothing" are not separate entities.

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"