> ((((((((
>
> CB: Are mathematical or logical categories rational in the context
of discussing categories ? Does zero mathematically categorize the
concept of nothing ? Is nothing or zero a unified category ?
>
> Can only nothing come from nothing ?
>
============
Try not sending in your tax forms; as that other philosopher of
difference, Gregory Bateson put it:
"In the world of the mind, nothing - that which is not - can be a cause. In the hard sciences, we ask for causes and we expect them to exist and be 'real.' But remember that zero is different from one and because zero is different from one, zero can be a cause in the psychological world, the world of communication. The letter which you do not write can generate an angry reply; and the income tax form which you do not fill in can trigger the Internal Revenue boys into energetic action because they, too, have had their breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner and can react with energy they derive from their metabolism. The letter which never existed is no source of energy." [Steps to an Ecology of Mind, 1972]
Also, for a real interesting take on zero, see the Mathematician Brian Rotman's "Signifying Nothing: The Semiotics of Zero" and his "Ad Infinitum: The Ghost in Turing's Machine--Taking God out of Mathematics and Putting the Body Back In"
Ian