The function of nothing
As the author of "The Proof of Nothing" (its online version is called "In Search of a Cyclops"
http://www.pentapublishing.com - you can read it for nothing) I need to mention that nothing may not exist as a something, but that nothing does have a function.
Let's not turn this into a black and white thing, because reality is never black and white: it's colored. And even if we tried: black and white are not exactly each other's opposite either. White can be seen as the culmination of various colors and black as no reflection of light. Therefore black and white are not exactly each other's opposites because not only white, but all colors can be placed opposite to 'no reflection of light.' Just like white, everything takes in a different role than (black) nothing. Let's finish this idea and state that the colors are 'somethings.'
The problem is that on a list of all colors black is officially not captured; black is not considered a color. We can argue if we need such a list. Let's turn the effort to create a list into an effort to fully understand colors; black (no reflection of light) will automatically be addressed in the full discourse about colors, wouldn't you agree? More problematic is what to do with nothing: to create a list of everything should it be put on there or not? While it may be possible to add black to that of the culmination of all colors (causing either no effect or we get a grey), adding nothing to the list of everything has a lot of people confused immediately, because it does not follow the nice abstract ordering of - well - everything. As you may understand, nothing is not something that can be captured easily; it will not fit nicely in a single opposition (because there are multiple oppositions possible of varying greatness) nor can it be captured absolutely correctly in a list; you'll have to actively try to understand the whole picture yourself. Only when you see it, when you can look beyond the somewhat false idea of black and white oppositions, will it be obvious.
Some people abhor the idea that nothing is used in the same breath as zero. Admitted, they are not identical, but sometimes they can take in the same space. 0000019 cows and 19 cows are - from the perspective of result - identical. In this case, the zeroes are nothings (though physically they do take up space, this computer program does not allow me to create the empty space in front of 19).
In math there are two systems in which zero takes a place. The binary system (zeroes and ones only) and the decimal system where zero is 'almost' seen as just one of the numbers (which it isn't ofcourse). The binary system can be seen to function like black and white, where the decimal system is that of black, white, and all the colors. Both systems contain a zero and a one.
While black may not be an 'active' color; it clearly has a function when used within the scheme of the other colors. Even by itself, when it is dark as the night, we respond to it: with fears or with relieve for painful eyes. The binary system would not be as good if we had to use ones and twos. Our computer would function slower if there had to be two signals to create the binary information instead of one signal and no signal.
As a last point I like to state that separation or the act of separation is a clear function. A function I think to be as old as the universe. According to me, two versions are possible: either our universe started out of (a non-materialized) singularity and separation became part of our universe or our universe started because separation occurred first in what was singular. I know, a good number of scientists believe the universe started out of nothing; not me. While I never expect to see any evidence about a pre-universe setting, there is evidence that separation is as fundamental to our universe as zero is to the binary system and the decimal system.
Nothing is nothing; don't let anyone make you believe there is more out there simply because you don't know for certain - but at the same time - don't forget that nothing has a function.
Thanks everyone!
