Almost five (5) months ago, the first time a thought on “how to turn nothing into something” crossed my mind, and since then I carefully kept on thinking about it and decided to write a blog on this topic. But our family’s circumstances of selling the house and relocating to a different state resulted in delay of writing and publishing this topic online.
In fact, when this thought crossed my mind, it was an instance of a paradoxical phenomenon. However, my intuition guided me to find an answer to this question, and I hope this topic may be helpful to others who find it useful who are faced with great challenges in his or her life!
As per Webster’s dictionary, word “nothing” means not any being or existence. On the contrary, an antonym for the word “nothing” (i.e., pronoun) is “something” (i.e., pronoun). Then how “something” can be obtained from “nothing? First, it seems ironic; however, can a perceived thought or an idea be considered as nothing? If so, is it possible for anyone to turn into something such as a tangible object, thing, and substance with a formulated thought or idea? If possible, then how can anyone achieve it?
This thought also reminded me of an old riddle that is, “which came first: the chicken or the egg?” Similarly, which came first: a formulated thought or idea (i.e., nothing), or the tangible object (i.e., something)? My curiosity of the words “nothing and something,” or the phrase “turning nothing into something” led me to conduct a brief research and studies on this topic. To my surprise, the word “nothing,” or “nothingness” not only turned out to be a philosophical term, but also a remarkable subject throughout the world that is, both in the Western and Eastern philosophy.
According to the Western philosophy, in the 5th century before Christ (BC), Parmenides, one of the earliest Greek philosophers considered “nothing” as a concept. His philosophical argument was that “nothing” cannot exist, and in order to “speak of a thing one has to speak of a thing that exists.”
Later Leucippus, another Greek philosopher who developed the theory of “atomism,” which is the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, invisible elements known as “atoms.” He accepted Parmenides position that there could be “no motion without a void.”The void is the opposite of being. However, his argument was that there exists “something” known as an absolute “plenum,” a space filled with matter, and there can be no motion in a plenum because it is completely full. Later, Democritus (460-370 BC), a Greek philosopher expanded this theory and concluded that these small invisible “atoms” allows the void to exist.
Aristotle, a Greek philosopher (384-322 BC), known as the “Father of Western Philosophy,” distinguished things that are “matter” and things that are “space.” His argument was that space is not “nothing” but rather a receptacle in which objects of matter can be placed.
Sir Isaac Newton, an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian and author affirmed the existence of absolute space. On the other hand, Rene Descartes, a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist (1629-1649) denied the existence of space, and argued that there was matter and its extension leaving no room for the existence of “nothing.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian challenged Descartes views and declined to overturn the traditional belief.
However, it was Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647), an Italian physicist and mathematician who invented the “barometer” showed that an empty space appeared if the mercury tube was turned upside down. As we know that Torricelli based on his experiments documented that the height of the mercury in a barometer changed slightly each day, and concluded that this was due to the changing pressure in the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure, is the pressure within the Earth’s atmosphere. In fact, we know that as altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases.
John Scotus Eriugena (815-877), an Irish theologian, philosopher and poet. His beliefs were essentially “pantheist,” which is the belief that “God is everything and everything is God.”
Bertrand Russell, 20th century British philosopher, mathematician, historian and Nobel laureate, in his book “History of Western Philosophy,” stated that “the idea that God created the world out of nothing is to be interpreted as meaning that nothing here is synonymous with God.”
As per Eastern philosophy, understanding of “nothing” defer. For instance, in Buddhism “emptiness” (i.e., Sunyata) considered being a state of mind. What I understand that in Eastern philosophical tradition, achieving “nothing,” is a state of mind, which allows one to be fully focused on a thought by the exertion of great effort; otherwise one would not be able to achieve, if he or she is consciously thinking.
After briefly studying both the Western and Eastern philosophies on this subject matter, my intellectual curiosity on this topic further led me into the theological aspects. From the theological perspective, I found out “nothing can be turned into something,” provided one must have “faith.” That is, faith in action, and there are a number of supporting verses which can be found in the Holy Bible.
For me a long time one of the Bible verses stuck in my mind is that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1 KJV).” In this context, I think a formulated thought with belief, initially appears to be “nothing,” that is, not existed, or not seen; however, when the thought or idea with belief, discipline and determination exercised the ultimate result would be “something,” which is the “substance.”
I think Jesus Christ affirmed it by stating that “ Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you (Mat.17:20 NKJV).”
When we think and see all of scientific-technologies so far in the world including railroads, aviation, vaccination, telephone, smart phone, space craft, computers, the Internet, and barometer, etc., the inventions started with a perceived idea or formulated thought. Meaning, nothing (i.e., just an “idea or thought”) turned out to be something (i.e., “tangible object, thing, or substance”).
Based on my studies, observations, experiences and belief, I have come to the conclusion that it is true, “nothing can be turned into something,” provided one must have faith, discipline, and determination. I don’t think all great inventors in the world who invented things that we use daily would have achieved their objectives without these qualities.
For instance, Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, and whom I admire from my Elementary school days to this day, and visited a few times his laboratory with our family in West Orange, New Jersey. When I visited his laboratory for the first time, and read his life history, I was amazed! Because history tells us that as a child he was a poor student, and when his school teachers gave him a hard time, finally his furious mother took him out of school and taught him at home. Not only Mr. Edison had early childhood learning problem, but also at the age of twelve he lost almost all his hearing. At one point Mr. Edition stated that “I never quit until I get what I’m after. Negative results are just what I’m after. They are just as valuable to me as positive results.”
Moreover, who can forget about his laboratory fire incident that took place on December 9, 1914? One of the published articles reported that according to his son Charles, Mr. Edison calmly walked over to him as he watched the fire destroy his dad’s work. In a childlike voice, Mr. Edison told his 24 years old son, “Go get your mother and all her friends. They’ll never see a fire like this again.” When his son Charles objected, Mr. Edison said, “It’s all right. We’ve just got rid of a lot of rubbish.”
After losing almost seven (7) million dollars worth of business including two hundred fifty (250) workers, and most of them discouraged him at that time. Finally, after hearing all kinds of discouragement words from many, he said, “Although I am 67 years old, I will start all over again tomorrow.” As we know that rest is history and Mr. Edison during his lifetime received 1,093 U.S patents and filed additional 500 to 600 that were unsuccessful or abandoned. There are many inventors in the world who never gave up on their conceived idea or thought (i.e., “nothing”) until he or she achieved the determined objective (i.e., “substance”).
In my opinion, yes, it is possible to “turn nothing into something,” provided one must have faith with formulated thought, discipline and determination.
Please share your thoughts, comments or suggestions, if you have any. Appreciated!