Ask Shakyamunison, he is the one that always talks about nothingness..... 😂
What I think :
To imagine something is to give it a shape... a structure. 'nothing' has no structure. So you can´t imagine 'nothing' because you can only imagine shapes or structures. If you are using imagination you are giving things a structure, and if that thing has no structure, then you are imagining that wrong. So its impossible to imagine 'nothing'.
Imagination is limited to shapes and structures. 'nothing' trancends imagination. If we want to reach 'nothing' , then perhaps we should use other way.
Originally posted by Alfheim
In reality though you were still thinking of something because your bodily functions were still working.
Subconsciously, yes. But the question, "Is it possible to imagine 'nothing'?" implies a conscious act, something that can be willfully done and the consequences of the act readily perceived...in which case, I believe my response is still viable.
Originally posted by Mindship
Subconsciously, yes. But the question, "Is it possible to imagine 'nothing'?" implies a conscious act, something that can be willfully done and the consequences of the act readily perceived...in which case, I believe my response is still viable.
Well actually when you think about not dreaming are you really thinking of nothing or are you thinking of what happened before and after? I remember when I tried to recall not dreaming and thats what happened, I imagined what happened before and after and blackness inbetween.
Originally posted by Poo FaceNah, a big black empty space (which is what I was going to say is nothing) is nothing because it's the abscence of everything. Black -- abscence of light, empty -- abscence of capacity, space -- abscence of volume. I guess if you add more adjactives you would have a better specified 'nothing'.
As a kid, when I'd try to imagine what it would be like if there was absolutely nothing, I'd picture a big black empty space. Now, I realize that a big black empty space is indeed 'something' . . . so what is 'nothing'??? 😕
Originally posted by Alfheim
Well actually when you think about not dreaming are you really thinking of nothing or are you thinking of what happened before and after? I remember when I tried to recall not dreaming and thats what happened, I imagined what happened before and after and blackness inbetween.
You're recalling the before and after correctly. The "blackness" is your conscious mind currently filling the gap, so to speak; in effect you're doing what Poo Face mentioned in his initial post.
My point was this: IMO, it is not possible to imagine nothing because the imaginer will always be present. Nothingness would mean not only "nothing imagined" (including blackness), but no imaginer, and for that matter, no "act of imagining," either. The only state I'm aware of -- barring death and coma (and I suppose one could argue for the "nothingness" of these states) -- where there is no conscious awareness of self and world is that part of the sleep cycle where there are no manifest dreams.