Nothing

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This article is on the abstract meaning of nothing. For alternate meanings, see Nothing (disambiguation)

"None" redirects here. For other uses, see None (disambiguation).

Nothing is the lack or absence of anything. Colloquially, however, the term is often used to describe a particularly unimpressive thing, event, or object.

1 Mathematics
2 Physics
3 Philosophy
4 Language
5 See also

[edit] Mathematics

In mathematics, nothing does not have a technical meaning. It could be said that a set contains "nothing" if and only if it is the empty set, in which case its cardinality (or size) is zero. In other words, the word "nothing" is a colloquial term for an empty set.

[edit] Physics

In physics, the word nothing is not used in any technical sense. A region of space is called a vacuum if it does not contain any matter. But it can contain physical fields. In fact, it is practically impossible to construct a region of space which contains no matter or fields, since gravity cannot be blocked and all objects at a non-zero temperature radiate electromagnetically. However, supposing such a region existed, it would still not be "nothing", since it has properties and a measureable existence as part of the quantum-mechanical vacuum.

[edit] Philosophy

The concept of "nothing" has been studied throughout history by philosophers and theologians; many have found that careful consideration of the notion can easily lead to the logical fallacy of reification. The understanding of "nothing" varies widely between cultures, especially between Western and Eastern cultures and philosophical traditions. For instance, emptiness, unlike "nothingness", is considered a state of mind in Buddhism (See Nirvana, Mu, Enlightenment). Existentialism and Heidegger have brought these two understandings closer together.

[edit] Language

The label nothing gets perceived as either important or not-important depending on the actual system in which it is considered. Compare these two sentences in which "nothing" plays the central role:

While traveling to the city nothing happened and so I arrived safely.

While getting ready to pay I discovered that there was nothing in my wallet, and so I had to go wash the dishes.

The confusion caused by "nothing" can also be seen in the equivocal joke below:

Anything is better than nothing.

Nothing is better than a Coke.

Therefore, anything is better than a Coke.

In Italy, the phrase "bel far niente" translates to "the beauty of nothing", reflecting the manner in which a person may spend time relaxing, often by sitting at a café and watching the world pass by.

In the Elizabethan era, nothing was a crude slang for the female genitalia. This can be noted in the pun found in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.