> > taking a cosmic view of these things to say that nothing matters is foolish
> >
> > > > And besides all this (or should I say, none of this), a universe means nothing.


Are you sure your picture of the universe is not being waylaid by a peculiarity of English, which confuses the apparent Void (emptiness) with Nothing (ultimate meaninglessness)?

Just because something appears 'empty' to our limited eyes and minds does not mean that 'nothing' is there. When speaking of the infinitely large (the physical universe) relating to the infinitely small (quantum field theory), covering everything in between, the semantics involved tends to start sounding like a Zen koan.

For example, if you walk into an empty room it's automatic to think 'nothing' is in there. The opposite is true, for even an empty room contains a column of air striking you on all sides with a continual crushing pressure of 1.0 kg/cm² (14.7 lb per sq. inch) at sea level. Similar analogies hold for the universe. Stars and galaxies are held in loose agglomeration by the force of gravity -- something which we cannot see, and for which we have no sense, but which nonetheless is there. Gravity is the weakest of all forces and yet it acts over the longest distances. In areas in the distant universe where gravity appears to be particularly weak, physicists posit other forces holding space and time together, such as the infamous dark matter. But even that dark matter is a theoretical construct to help explain something critical and unknown that we cannot see. Out of sight does not mean out of our concerns.

At that point, it looks like you started to anthropomorphize the emptiness of space, and the things which we cannot see, and associate them to the sense of futility a person might feel when pondering the ultimate heat-death of the universe.

Wolf "Now, how does one go about reliably introducing God, who is also a person we cannot see?" spirit


> I was just getting my theory of everything written down. I don't think anything would exist without some sort of purpose, even if it doesn't make a difference in 60 trillion years. I also meant "nothing" as in the long term. 'Course, this ties right into my theory of religion, but that is a whole other post...
>

Heh. If you don't mind, there is *nothing* that whets the appetite like a Theory of Everything... I'd Rule Six you if TOE is suitably Sixable. :-)