10/16/97

Back. Alive. Calculus midterm today, no time.

But just for your diversion, I had a "deep thought" last night (and

this doesn’t happen that often). The thought was this:

Everything exists

Sounds simple I suppose, but if you change it to

"Nothing does not exist". By nothing I

do not mean nothing as opposed to anything, but nothing as in the concept of

"

nothing"

The way I figure it, by saying that something (or nothing) does not exist,

we give it form. How do you picture the concept of nothing? Wait a minute! Stop!

By thinking about it, you’ve made it exist. See how this works?

And saying "winged dogs don’t exist" to someone will only make them

picture a winged dog, or think about it in some way, giving it form, and thus

making it exist. This concept is similar to that expressed by the philosopher

Blake (?) who said that nothing that is not percieved exists. So if I close my

eyes, and can in no way percieve the desk in front of me (hear it, see it, touch it),

how can I tell that it is still there? How do I know that the entire room

remains in existance when I close my eyes. The answer is, I don’t.

My philosophy prof would be proud.