How can 'nothing' exist?

[2584]

Nothing is the absence of something. Darkness is the absence of light. So I would say, no, nothing does not exist. It's just the perception of absence... or the absence of perception...you know what I mean.

[505]

Gibbelly gark quark snack sniff bloo boo fart barfpthump glunk cish gwark pthurmp!

[Don C]

ummm... let's see... everything must necessarily come from nothing for if there was no nothing where would things come from... something?
there's nothing and there's something. in fact, according to ancient theory (ein sof) there are several kinds of "no-thingness"

now i think i'll have a glass of warm milk and contemplate no-thing.

[Ecky Thump]

Nothing does not exist, concretely. It's an abstract thing. A name for the opposite of 'everything', that inevitably exists and without which, we could not live.

Everything and nothing are clear opposites. Everything is relative, but nothing is not. Everything has to exist, but nothing can not, by definition, since if it did it would be something.

[abdullahnajjar2005]

Descartes said "I think, therefore I am". He believed tat he could doubt many things but the fact that he was a thinking being meant that he must exist. Philosophy can get lost in the connotations and the meanings of words. Language is a prison cell that locks us away from the "real" world, but it does have windows, even if they are bared. We can see through these windows but can say very little about what we see, for to do so is to use language, and, therefore, falsify our perceptions of what we perceive. Language is a trap, philosophy falls into. When you close your eyes, do you see nothing?

[mr.chips]

everything - nothing = everything
but
everything + everything=/ (not equal) nothing
similarly
darkness + light = light
but
light + light =/ (not equal) darkness

there's quite a difference

[Happy Hiram]

darkness is only a symbol for nothing. Nothing (potential) is the source of all the rules of reality. When an electron appears inside the atom, where it is located is a mathematics of nothings. Potential particles (meaning the spots where the electron can appear but hasn't) VOTE on which one of them will leave the fold for a brief moment and become the REAL McCoy, and ACTUAL particle.

If only the actual particle exists, but what POTENTIAL there is determines it's existence, can we truly say that non-existence doesn't exist?

The problem here is our language has become bent because reality does not match out old ways of describing it.

Nothing exists and it is the creator and sustainer of the universe.

[Oscar M]

Just like energy, it can't be created nor destroyed. Nothing does not exist. Darkness is nothing besides darkness... like light being reflected excluding white. Nothing is nothing... This question is unanswerable

[Daisy]

It doesn't. When you close your eyes you see darkness. Darkness is not nothing.

[Wraxtiorre]

"Oboy, is it time for my famous Desk Test?" The Cartoon Dog began dragging the desk away from the wall towards the center of the room.
The Stoic Cat rushed up against the desk, growling as he pushed in the opposite direction. "Oh, no you don't! They're not that gullible. Besides, this is a 'Nothing' question, not an 'Existence' question."
The Cartoon Dog looked up. "But I see the word 'exist' up there in the question. And, look, there! In the Details it says, 'does it exist?' That clinches it!" He charged the side of the desk, ramming his full weight into it.
The Stoic Cat stepped aside unexpectedly, allowing the desk to sail out the window.
The Cartoon Dog flopped on the floor in the space where the desk had been. "Well, that wasn't very nice. What do we do now?"
"Nothing, I guess." The Stoic Cat leaned against the wall. "What do you do when you are bored?"
The Cartoon Dog brightened up. "Sometimes, I like to close my eyes and bash my paws on my closed eyelids. It's like fireworks in my head. What do you like to do?"
"Sometimes, I like to sit upright in an awkward chair while balancing a piping hot cup of tea on a single claw." The Stoic Cat looked around. "And recite devotions to Carrie Underwood."
The Cartoon Dog opened its eyes in shock. "You like her?"
The Stoic Cat looked away and pondered, "What's not to like?"
The Cartoon Dog leaned back in dismay. "Uh, her voice."
A fan suddenly popped into the window and exclaimed, "Hey, I like her singing voice!"
The Cartoon Dog blinked again, and suddenly remembered what he was doing. He closed his eyes and began to bash his paws on his closed eyelids. "Ooh, good one!"
The Stoic Cat waxed philosophic about the charms of Carrie Underwood. "What was it that Ophelia said to Hamlet at the play? Ah, yes, my dear Miss Underwood. She said that she thought nothing about Hamlet putting his head upon her lap. He was restful, so odd . . . " He looked up at the center of the room. "What are you doing?"
The Cartoon Dog gasped and wheezed. "I'm dangling from the chandelier so that I can hurl myself out the window. What better way to experience the nothingness of the inside of your eyelids than to be unconscious?" With that, he heaved himself into a stronger swing and released his grip on the chandelier.
The Stoic Cat watched the Cartoon Dog sail out the window. He leaned over the sill and shouted, "Look out for that desk!"
Thunk!
The Stoic Cat winced and then looked fearfully downward out the window. "Well, if that doesn't prove that the Desk exists, I don't know what does." He walked away from the window. The Door suddenly flew open, revealing the Cartoon Dog standing in the hallway, encircled by twittering birds. "Owee!"
The Stoic Cat rushed forward, grabbing the Cartoon Dog's arm. "You fool! I'm the one who has nine lives. Well, it's a good thing you're a cartoon and don't feel any pain."