Jimi

This probably doesn't fall under the umbrella of life science you are talking about, but... I for one would like to know what consciousness is. I can understand that a sperm and egg undergo reactions that results in a child. I can also understand that electrochemical reactions in the brain result in thought. What I don't understand is how, when or why this process starts. I guess this kind of thing results in abortion issues and probably seems more geared toward philosophy than science, but it seems like science isn't really sure on this one.

NO! That would prove this guys point. He'd simply say, "exactly, so you see... something comes from nothing."

I've been having the discussion with some wise old sage type of dude about nothing when he pulled that out as "proof" that something can come from nothing. In fact, despite the fact that I proved the glaring errors in many different ways, this person's final word was: "There Cannot be Something without Nothing and there Cannot be Nothing without Something. Nothing does not Exist, Something does Exist. <u>Both</u> can be/are <u>Experienced</u>. Have Fun!" I ask you, is there anything that can be said in response to such silliness?

Awesome, thank you! I can't wait to read your post and share it with some blockheads I know... ...

Sorry, I initially went to the trouble to copy and paste all the relevant HTML into the original message, but it showed up as one gigantically LOOOONG scroll-to-the-right post, so I just provided the link and deleted my original text. Why is it crap? Well, obviously, he starts right off giving 0 an index to represent spatial dimension. First of all, in absolute nothingness, there is no such thing as spatial dimension, so it is illogical to even decide on an index of 0. Secondly, he takes the index of 0 and makes it 0-0 and further changes 0-0 to n-n. As soon as you jump into the realm of algebra, you have entered the realm of infinity. Because algebra deals with quantities, Crowley's equation of 0n-n / 0n-n = 1 is bogus. The 1 is actually 1 quantity of nothingness or zero. So, he has already mislead us in order to attain 1. Howver, in nothingness, there are no quantities. He then divides this 1 by 0 to come up with infinity, which is what he was after all along. However, his final equation is 0/infinity... which is still zero. Even with his bogus attempts and misdirection, he has not shown how something can come from nothing. He has merely shown how one could arrive at a null set starting from infinity.

http://www.lilytears.com/spirituality/thelema/qabalah/universeequation/ EDITED: I HAVE EDITED THIS POST TO PROVIDE THE LAME-DUCK EQUATION: Ah, but what we started to do was discover the meaning of Nothing. It is not correct to write it simply as 0; for that 0 implies an index of 0¹, or 0², or 0[/size]ⁿ[/size]. And if our Nothing is to be absolute Nothing, then there is not only no figure, but no index either. So we must write it as 0⁰. What is the value of this expression? We proceed as before; divide.[/size]</p> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td rowspan="2">0 = 0^n-n = 0ⁿ ÷ 0ⁿ =[/size]</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1 solid #000000" bordercolor="#000000">0ⁿ[/size]</td> <td rowspan="2">?[/size]</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1 solid #000000" bordercolor="#000000">1[/size]</td> <td rowspan="2">^.[/size]</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-top: 1 solid #000000" bordercolor="#000000">1[/size]</td> <td style="border-top: 1 solid #000000" bordercolor="#000000">0ⁿ[/size]</td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <p align="justify">Of course 0ⁿ ÷ 1 remains 0; but 1 ÷ 0ⁿ = <span style="letter-spacing: -2pt">oo</span>. That is, we have a clash of the "infinitely great" with the "infinitely small"; that knocks out the "infinity" (and Advaitism with it!) and leaves us with an indeterminate but finite number of utter variety. That is: 0⁰ can only be interpreted as "The Universe that we know."