The Infinite Containment Paradox: Why Nothing's "Real" -A Philosophical Essay by Anubhav Srivastava

Описание: Download the Full Foundational Text, Nothing/Everything: The Mindbending Philosophical Theory of Everything, for FREE at https://archive.org/details/nothing-e...

"The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees." – Erwin Schrodinger


Here is a weird thought experiment I had as a child that drove me crazy and well into adulthood, I had not the faintest answer to it. At one point, I just gave it up, until I decided to pick it up again, for this book
The thought experiment was. We know there is space, there are galaxies and stars, but what is beyond that space? What is beyond the edge of the universe or is there an edge at all. If there is nothing beyond that universe then what the heck is our universe doing in the middle of "nothing."
Now, if there is something beyond this universe, maybe more universes, then what is beyond that? If there is a boundary for these universes, beyond which there is "nothing" then what is this cluster of universes doing in the middle of this nothing?
Let's think of it this way. For the longest time, people wondered what lay beyond the earth. They wondered what would happen at the edge of it, inevitably they discovered that, but instead of giving a satisfactory resolution, it led to more questions as to “what beyond?” Questions we are still trying to answer.
Similarly, scientists will INEVITABLY discover what lies beyond the physical universe, if there is anything at all. For example’s sake, let us assume it’s a multiverse.
But then it brings us back to the same question. What Lies beyond those? And if there is "nothing" beyond that multiverse, then what the hell is that multiverse doing in the middle of "nothing."
Modern Science has revealed that galaxies aren’t actually drifting away into empty space, rather space itself is being stretched like a fabric, similar to how a balloon expands. But this begs another question
1) If we keep expanding, what do we expand into?
2) if we expand into something what does that something expand into?
When does infinite regress end and does it end at all? How can we keep perpetually expanding into nothing
Another clarification, some people will say nothing isn’t really nothing but rather there are quantum fluctuations in the nothing as well.
Yes, that is true, but as of now we know to be true only for the “PHYSICAL NOTHING”, a Vacuum within Spacetime.
The Nothing we are talking about is beyond that PHYSICAL vacuum, it is beyond time and space itself, it is beyond universes or speculative multiverses.
You could call it an ABSOLUTE NOTHING compared to the PHYSICAL NOTHING with quantum fluctuations within our universe.
As you can see this is an infinite loop with no answer. Every answer to the "beyond" comes up with another question, what "beyond" that?
The heart of this thought experiment though is not really "what lies beyond" but the question, if there is nothing beyond then what are we doing in the middle of this "nothingness.” It goes straight to the heart of existence itself.
Let’s consider an example that is relevant, at least in 2024. Imagine a video game where all the gameplay lies on a map and everything is there on that map, and outside that map, there is just complete blackness, an impenetrable boundary for the video game characters, that they can never go beyond. Their existence is literally in the middle of nothingness.
Similarly, understanding what you and I are doing in the middle of this "nothing”, on a cosmic scale, is the real puzzle of existence.
After the video game analogy, some of you would say we are existing in a simulation, like video game characters.
Well, then what beyond that? What universe do the developers of that video game exist in? Where does the infinite regress end?
And if they ultimately exist in the middle of “ABSOLUTE NOTHING” then what are they doing there?!

WHAT THIS MEANS
A so called "ultimate reality" that we are looking for, is simply impossible to exist within a PURELY physical universe or a multiverse or beyond, because everything that exists physically has to exist within something. It cannot physically exist within "nothing.", because a “nothing” that can hold something, itself has to physically exist within something, again leading to an infinite regress.
This ladies’ and Gentlemen, is the “Infinite Containment Paradox”
And this paradox of Infinite Containment leaves us with two possibilities
Your whole “life” has been a complete illusion and no one you have ever known has ever TRULY existed.
OR
We all technically “exist.” But in a manner that is COMPLETELY different from what we believe to be “real life.”

Which one is it?
Let’s find out.

Find the answer in the Book: Nothing/Everything

Anubhav Srivastava: Philosopher, Business Consultant and Advisor on Raising Sovereign AI Systems. Email anubhav101@gmail dot com