Calling all Great Minds: A discussion on Reality

Posted by TheWater
April 8, 2016
On the "Read It" website
Search for the topic: "Maybe aliens haven't visited us because they live millions of light years away and think there are only dinosaurs on our planet"

Well, I'm no scientist, but I love reading about these topics.

"What was there before the universe," is basically a pointless question, in a sense. The Big Bang Theory (the theory, not that goddamn show) states that the universe was once condensed to a single microscopic point before eventually exploding outwards, creating the universe we know now. So when you ask "what was before the universe," you are essentially asking "what was outside of that microscopic point that would eventually explode into the universe." Well, what was outside of that point was...nothing. To be clear, I am going way outside my area of expertise here, but trying my best. There was no time, there was no matter. There wasn't even "space" as we think of it now, even though the general idea of "empty space" is basically "nothing." There simply was, literally, nothing.

The reason the question is rather pointless (and that's not to say it isn't worth asking because it is fascinating to contemplate) is because any potential answer defies human comprehension. We are beings of our universe. We live and die in our universe. Everything about us, everything we know and understand and seek, is all within our universe. As such, we cannot adequately comprehend what is truly nothing. Even when our eyes tell us "There is nothing there in that area of empty space," there is still something there; we just can't see it with the naked eye. Before the universe, there was truly nothing, and it is beyond our understanding. There was nothing to know, nothing to understand, nothing to discover, nothing to learn. There was no past, present or future. There were no seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years. There was no relativity, there were no laws. Seriously, there was nothing.

EDIT: I put this in a reply to a comment below, but wanted to include it here. My high school physics teacher phrased this concept in such a way that I still refer back to it even now. Obviously, he was trying to convey it to a room of 14-16 year old kids as non-scientifically as possible. I remember the entire exchange because when he began, he called on me to facilitate his point. I found my science classes fascinating, but I've always done terribly in any subject that involved numbers and calculations, so by extension, any science or math subject in school was always my worst. Didn't mean I didn't pay attention or enjoy the classes though. Anyway, he said:

"Okay, so you guys are asking me what was there before the universe. I'm telling you there was literally nothing. The hurdle we have right now is that you guys, as well as all humans generally, cannot truly comprehend true nothingness. So I'll ask you, within this nothingness, is there 'light'?" (He directed this question towards me)

"Of course not. If there is nothing, then by default, there is no light. There can't be light."

"Okay, so if there is no light, that means nothing is just all-consuming darkness, right?"

"Well, yeah. If there is no light, then there is only darkness. So nothing is just a bunch of darkness."

"Wrong. Remember, we are contemplating true nothingness. As such, there is neither light nor darkness. There is only nothing. You say there must only be darkness, but that is only because we think of pure darkness in our feeble attempts to wrap our minds around true nothingness. In reality, there isn't even darkness. Do you see where I am going with this? True nothingness is so outside the bounds of our comprehension that not even the frightening, rather ambiguous concept of pure and total darkness accurately describes what true nothingness actually is."

He finished this little tidbit by phrasing it in a way I can't remember with enough accuracy to type it word for word, but basically he said, "Darkness is the absence of light. But what if there was not only no light, but light itself was never a thing? What if there wasn't even the concept of light? What if there was never a time when light existed? That would mean there is not anything for something to be in the absence of something else because that 'something else' never existed in the first place. As such, there is no darkness just as there is no light. There is only nothing."

(MA) Reality is the effect of realizing one is nothing.
(PE) When you realize you are nothing, you become something.

Nope. Reality is that which when you go to sleep persists. Whether you like it or not.

That's advaita bs. Do you even understand what nothing is? The beliefs you hold shows the personality you have, and you are not nothing, if you were you'd simply be gone. Not even be there.

Can you answer him please? When you talk to someone else are you talking to another yourself or to someone else?
(Kinda obvious that is not you) but answer him. Don't let chaol's bs on the air. Answer him and end with his sckpuppet game

Nice religious advaita poem. But all simple plain bs.
There is no such thing as 'unity". No, we are not one. No, none of this is true. Everything you wrote here is a fictional poem. No, we are not connected individuals. No, you are not smart, and yes, you are a sockpuppt trying to push your agenda in this forum (like others in this I"am" religious agenda).

(notice how many times chaos repeats "nothing", it's all about subconscious manipulation)

[There are more people like him in other forums, pushing this agenda. I'm going to expose them all on youtube and in all forums, and end their game]

Last Edited by demantix on 08/09/2018 06:51 PM

Fact is, you are neither something, nor nothing. You're an individual

Define 'reality' ?
No, reality is not "all there is". there is no 'all' there is" to begin with

How many pseudo-poets of the "nothing" religious poems (sockpuppts like you chaol and many others shillin on this website are there?)

This is a sub reality, the eternal is the real reality. We do not see reality for what it really is.

Advaitic language can be seen as more of a signpost or tool than a representation of truth. It points towards something inexpressible, and words like reality/truth/nothing are open to interpretation. The whole point is to inquire and infer the source and utility of your own thoughts, based on direct experience and observation. The words act as an invitation.

It is totally useless in most contexts, because it is the ultimate negation. It can be misused if someone with low self-esteem adopts the mode of thought in order to feel powerful over others, or shut down an argument. What good would it do for someone to shout "it's all fake, can't you see!" in a movie theater?

The language tends to take an all or nothing approach, and repeats the same thing in thousands of different ways. This is why it comes across as an "agenda." I'll see people dump advaitic text without any attempt to put it into context, as if the text itself had some value. Semantics also get in the way- "we are all one," does not need to imply what you think it does. You call your computer screen or body one thing, but it's really numerous pixels / organs working together.

I would invite anyone to observe how opposites can be simultaneously true from different perspectives (although only one can be held at a time, as shown in negative/positive space illusions like the face/vase). Yes, this looks like relativism. Modes of thought can be thought of as filters or lenses- advaitic thought is a lens that attempts to illuminate the seed of experience.

You are free to spend your time exposing people's use of advaitic language- there is a direct need for that with people turning it into a shiny possession. It is also an opportunity to consider why the language creates such a strong response in you.

The reason I sit here defending it is because you are correct, but also seeing it from a different perspective than I am. So I offer my perspective in the same way you wish to expose others.

(MA) I am nothing between something(s)
(PE) I am the reference field AKA the essence of existence
(SS) Welcome to void, bitches

By the way, SS = Steph Speak