From nothing to infinity, we haven’t moved at all. Is nothing equal to infinity?

Imagine that I bring you infinite gifts in a box on your birthday. But you refuse to accept it and say that you want nothing. So, I start emptying the box so that I can give you a box of nothing. I can remove all objects, matter, forces, fields, radiation, and so on. Does that mean the box holds nothing? What is the level of nothingness that I can achieve? Even if I manage to remove all contents, I would have achieved infinite nothingness. So, did you get a gift of nothing or infinity on your birthday?

Confused? I am too. But we can work it out I guess. Let’s talk about nothing. In this world where science, math, philosophy, and logic are different aspects of the same reality, “nothing” can never be by itself. It is always the levels of nothingness that will be useful depending on the situation. In the example of the gift box I stated earlier, you can remove all physical matter as a first step, which obviously includes air. Now we have a vacuum. Going further, we can also remove all forces and energy including the Earth’s magnetic field and gravitational pull, and so on. Following this, we can remove all the radiation and the neutrinos that pass by everything at all times. Likewise, if we continue removing all possibilities of physics, math, and logic, did we achieve absolute nothingness? We are missing a big factor here – spacetime.

But wait. You might ask – What is the use of trying to understand the concept of nothingness and infinity so hard if it is not going to help me in my daily life? To that I answer – It is something of your utility. While you see nothing around you, everything exists around you at the same time. Knowing how to relate nothing with infinity will help us realize that everything is right there and we just need the correct perception to sense it. This logic can be applied to everything. If you are stuck in a situation and nothing is leading you out of it, then you don’t have to lose hope. The answer is right there in front of you, but with a different combination of parameters and factors. For every n unsuccessful attempts, there is always the (n + 1)^th way that will work. This n could be infinity and you can still add 1 to it. So even when you think you have nothing, you still hold infinity. All this is understandable to an extent. But what if I now add spacetime into the mix? Do we evaluate the infinity around us with respect to the passing of time where we are? But then if we are removing everything then shouldn’t we remove time as well? If we do that, then we may have absolute nothingness. But that would contradict logic because if time is non-existent then everything is still as it was earlier – infinite. Then from infinity to nothingness, we haven’t moved at all. Does this mean infinity is equal to nothing?

It can be, because if time is removed from the mix, then there has been no change but we definitely moved from infinity to nothing. So, infinity is equal to nothing in the absence of the flow of time. The question now arises – Does that happen, or has it happened? Yes. Take the case of black holes for example. As you move towards it and you cross the event horizon, time starts becoming slower and slower, and tends to zero at the center of the black hole for someone observing from outside. But it still remains the same for someone falling into the black hole. So, everything exists there but still, there is nothing there at the same time. At this stage, all our logic stops working because we are not able to quantify anything that has no mass, force, or field. But this “nothing” can be quantified in terms of perception. While light can be perceived by the eyes, it cannot be perceived by the ears. And if we did not have the concept of eyes, does it mean the light doesn’t exist because we cannot perceive it?

So, nothing is equal to infinity because there can never be “nothing” by itself. In math, if you make a summation over infinity, you will get a finite number, however large. Hence, there will always be something. We still have a long way to go before we understand every component of this infinity. But we can start by believing that there will always be something.

Crux of the matter is…

I see Your infinite form in every direction, with countless arms, stomachs, faces, and eyes. O Lord of the universe, whose form is the universe itself, I do not see in You any beginning, middle, or end.

Infinity, nothing and something are coexisting. What you see is limited to your limitations. Grow your perception and push your limitations. It is the only way to merge yourself more and more with infinity.

Always be perceptive, and never lose perspective, because being knowledgeable is being productive.

Be inspired! Be mystified! Be Priya-fied!