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Is the number 0 really a number or the representation of nothing?

post #1 of 20
7/31/10 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 

Somehow I may have too much time on my hands. I walk around and contemplate such small thoughts during the day. Maybe the question should ask if nothing is truly something? My final thoughts are it IS the representation of something.

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post #2 of 20
7/31/10 at 10:04pm

Well I think it means and represents "nothing", yes. But it only makes sense if it's being compared to an actual something that simply isn't there, therefore nothing. You have to know and realize that it's not there to realize there's nothing there. Otherwise you're oblivious! 

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post #3 of 20
7/31/10 at 10:07pm

It's a placeholder. 

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post #4 of 20
7/31/10 at 10:56pm

Let's remember what Billy Preston taught us in A song.."Nothing From Nothing Leaves Nothing"!!!!!   or maybe "IT'S" one less than one!            Hell, now I'll be up all night thinking about this op! 


Edited by 9pintube - 7/31/10 at 10:57pm
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post #5 of 20
8/1/10 at 12:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gumaerdu View Post

It's a placeholder. 


What (s)he says...

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post #6 of 20
8/1/10 at 1:17am
Pick up a copy of "The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero," by Robert Kaplan. It might sound strange, but this math book is a page-turner. I loved every page.

Zero is both a number and a concept, and is completely fascinating. It was even banned in some societies because of the conundrums it causes. Zero is also a great example of the intersection of mathematics and philosophy - I think that would be an incredible double-major if I ever have the chance to lounge around a university with free time and plenty of money.

Just don't try to divide by zero. I hear it does strange things to the fabric of space-time. :)
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post #7 of 20
8/1/10 at 1:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gumaerdu View Post

It's a placeholder. 


+2

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post #8 of 20
8/1/10 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redcarmoose View Post

Somehow I may have too much time on my hands. I walk around and contemplate such small thoughts during the day. Maybe the question should ask if nothing is truly something? My final thoughts are it IS the representation of something.


Absolutely, it is the representation that there is none of something-- like someone mentioned above, more of a placeholder.

 

Right now I have zero food in my fridge... But I'm thinking of changing that integer later. That wasn't an example, it's the cold hard truth. :(

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post #9 of 20
8/1/10 at 11:29am

zero is the black hole of numbers...

you multiply any number by zero, and wind up with zero.

 

and, if you try to divide by zero, you get infinity.

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post #10 of 20
8/1/10 at 8:49pm

Is the number 1 really a number or the representation of a singularity?

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Landis View Post

Right now I have zero food in my fridge... But I'm thinking of changing that integer later. That wasn't an example, it's the cold hard truth. :(


Wouldn't that make your fridge the placeholder? ;)

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post #11 of 20
8/2/10 at 12:34am
Thread Starter 

Wow,

Thank-you to everyone for the very cool responses. So I am really looking at this as a way to view the world in a new way. Just the power of the place of nothing in the Universe. The balance of stuff coming into being then going away. The formation of cells and the creation of large bodies in space. The destruction of things large and small balancing it all. After posting this I had a great coincidence.

 

 

So I go to this fancy hotel with my Wife for a watercolor show and we have drinks and walk around. This thing is a charity so all profits from the sale go to save the baby animals and save the Earth type of thing. There are paintings everywhere, this place is dialed in with indoor ponds with candles burning  in them. Right at the front entrance there is a space for a painting but nothing there just an area where a painting should have been. { I know at this point I sound crazy to all of you! }.

 

This was maybe a sales thing to show people that the painting will be sold! We were there early and they had yet to sell anything. So there it was for me anyway!

The place where nothing was! LOL!

 

 

0 in that area had a power.


Edited by Redcarmoose - 8/2/10 at 12:37am
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post #12 of 20
8/2/10 at 1:16am

I am intrigued about the year ZERO that never happened.  People went from 11:59 PM 1B.C.E and the next minute were at midnight 12:00 AM 1 A.D.  Was it a tough decision to skip the year zero? Were they scared of living in the year Zero?

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post #13 of 20
8/2/10 at 4:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gumaerdu View Post

It's a placeholder. 


Surely this isn't the most interesting property of "0" !

 

I would have thought the defining property of "0" is that it is the additive identity.

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post #14 of 20
8/2/10 at 7:04am

Zero is the point of origin from the distance perspective.  A tree, a rock, city hall all exist.

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post #15 of 20
8/2/10 at 7:52am

I think you should look into Plato's theory of the forms. Zero, as many have described, is different from Zero*. What I mean by this is that all of the descriptions we see here are merely the particulars of Zero*. And getting rid of the confusion that arises between discussing the particular and the form of Zero will help you discover what you are looking for. Good luck.

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