Originally Posted By: Bill6
…'space' is a total absence of matter it has no physical effect on any object no matter how much it stretches; ten times nothing is still nothing.


To some extent I am playing “Devil’s Advocate” in an attempt to clarify my own ideas, so please be patient, don’t hesitate to tell me if I slip into semantic nit-picking.

“…'space' is a total absence of matter…”. Agreed. Presumably, this includes an absence of energy?


“…it has no physical effect on any object…”. It would be extremely difficult to argue that a total lack of matter and energy could have a physical effect on anything. However, position in space seems to have some significance, even if only in terms of the argument that a force is required to move an object from one point in space to another.

“…no matter how much it stretches; ten times nothing is still nothing.” Multiplying nothing by any number may be an acceptable concept in mathematics, but in the real world it has no practical application. This leaves us with the idea of stretching nothing: I’m not very happy with that idea, but this brings us to another of your points:

Quote:
I, for one, am not talking about one part of space moving relative to another but am referring to other galaxies moving relative to each other.


If space is not moving, which must be the case if it is nothing, then as the Universe expands, the galaxies are moving through space, which scientists assure us that they are not doing.

There has to be a lot more to discuss here, but duty calls, so perhaps we can deal with one bit at a time.


There never was nothing.