How might we develop an understanding of the variables of Nothing, something and everything?
Is nothing, no thing, not present, not articulated?
Is something, some thing, on the path to being, but not yet a part of a greater being?
Is everything the totality of all forms of being, energy, Existence?
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If we begin with nothing, where does The Equal Sign = come from? This delicate question is explored more fully in Volume II of Iconic Arithmetic. Equality is the absence of distinction. The base case is …
The ancient Greeks found *nothing* to be a very controversial concept. The world, throughout all ancient and many modern cultures, was believed to originate from *something*, whether it be the primal ocean or ur-matter or birthing by the gods. Henning Genz recounts that the world was full, “there was no room for nothingness”. Democritus and the atomists found a use for empty space: it provides room for atoms to move. To maintain the primacy of the natural numbers, the Pythagoreans had to banish irrational numbers into the void. There is nothing between 1 and 2. …
The Smalltalk uniformity allows for a small set of concepts that result in a straightforward, clear syntax. For example, there are only 6 keywords, and only 5 possible operations: Read a Variable, write a variable, Create a Literal, Send a Message, and return.
The Smalltalk uniformity allows for a small set of concepts that result in a straightforward, clear syntax. For example, there are only 6 keywords, and only 5 possible operations: read a variable, Write a Variable, Create a Literal, Send a Message, and return.