Nothing

Melissa:

What are you thinking about?

Joey:

Nothing

Melissa:

It's impossible to think about nothing, because you are always thinking about something. Even if you are thinking about nothing, it is still something.

Joey:

That's not true. I can think about nothing. You just don't think.

Melissa:

You can't not think. Even sitting here staring off into space, the wheels in your brain are still turning. Unless you are Paris Hilton, there are always thoughts running through your head- whether they're subconscious or not.

Joey:

So you are pretty much saying that there is no "nothing" because there is always something, right?

Melissa:

Right, because if there is always "something" then there will never be "nothing".

Joey:

The fact that there is always "something" means that there is always "nothing".

Melissa:

So what is "nothing"?

Joey:

Imagine a person standing in a room with nothing else in it, it's just a vacuum. What else is in the room? Nothing!

Melissa:

Not true! There is a vacuum. That is something! So, why does the term "nothing" exist if "nothing" doesn't exist?

Joey:

Look outside the window. Do you see an elephant sitting outside the window? No, right? So are you saying that there is no elephant? Yes, right? SO that elephant doesn't exist. It doesn't even exist in our minds. It;s not there.

Melissa:

So you are saying the definition of nothing would be something that doesn't exist is the essence of nothingness.

Joey:

The fact that things can be nothing implies that nothingness exists.

Melissa:

But if you say nothing exists that means "nothing" is something, which means that if "nothing" is something then there is no such thing as "nothing".

Joey:

Think about it this way, I am sending an e-mail through something that technically isn't there.


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PS- this was an actual conversation about "nothing" over lunch yesterday at Market table. We thought it'd make an interesting post. Enjoy :)