Could everything have existed forever?

Discuss any topics related to metaphysics (the philosophical study of the principles of reality) or epistemology (the philosophical study of knowledge) in this forum.
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Kane Jiang
Posts: 42
Joined: August 8th, 2019, 5:28 am

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by Kane Jiang »

The one problem I have with imagining this is you cannot have 2 infinities on a line. Therefore, if time began at negative infinity in time, either there is no positive infinity in time or something else must be done for there to be a positive infinity in time. Therefore, I believe there is an end of times, which after time either begins to go back in time or something else happens.

But if there was a beginning of time, how can anything infinite ever be created? How can infinite space be created? It's easier to imagine infinity as always existing and finite things as being created.

Also, if anyone sentient was ever created from the void, and destroying is easier than creating at least in regards to sentience, wouldn't that imply that it may be possible to remove sentience from someone? Sorry to introduce emotion into this argument, but I don't want to imagine it's even possible to disappear from all existence forever. I do not think the universe would allow for such a travesty for anyone sentient to disappear forever.

I believe sentience is infinite.

People always tell you you have infinite potential, you can be the greatest, you can be the best, you can be an astronaut, etc...
Infinity DOES exist.
And sentience is infinite because part of being sentient is having potential. This last sentence is common sense. Sorry for not using logic here.

Next time someone says potential happens in the brain, I will just Lol. So much for the brain being the locus of control of all things sentient. Did anyone ever say that? Or did they use the word "life" as a less threatening, hidden substitute?

But, we know the brain looks ugly, but anything ugly and deformed like that doesn't last. There is a reason gold and diamonds last as long as they do (sorry for introducing some common sense and emotion again). One can only surmise that brains did not exist at negative infinity in time.

Therefore, how can the brain be the locus of control of all things sentient?

Also, I clearly used some common sense or emotion above right? I did not fully use logic or reason. Why aren't more articles that use common sense or emotion not published if they reveal some insights that logic or reason cannot?
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RJG
Posts: 2767
Joined: March 28th, 2012, 8:52 pm

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by RJG »

Kane Jiang wrote:The one problem I have with imagining this is you cannot have 2 infinities on a line.
You can't? ...so then what is the very first and/or the very last number on a number line? How far can I count to in either direction?

Kane Jiang wrote:Therefore, if time began at negative infinity in time…
What? ..."time began"??? ..."a beginning of infinity"??? Two logical contradictions here:

1. There can be no "beginning" to time. "Beginning" implies time. Time cannot exist before it exists.

2. "Infinity" has NO "beginning" point. Something without a beginning, has no beginning.

Kane Jiang wrote:I did not fully use logic or reason.
Agreed.

Kane Jiang wrote:Why aren't more articles that use common sense or emotion not published...
One man's "common sense" (or emotion) is another man's "folly". Without logic, anything and everything is non-sensically possible.
Kane Jiang
Posts: 42
Joined: August 8th, 2019, 5:28 am

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by Kane Jiang »

RJG wrote: You can't? ...so then what is the very first and/or the very last number on a number line? How far can I count to in either direction?
I don't think the number line is really a line in the real world if it exists.

If the number line were a line and there were 2 infinities on that line (in either direction), then the finite parts of the line can't be moved. We can picture the line moving along the same direction as one of the 2 infinities, but if say "1" were moved towards positive infinity, that would leave a hole rather than moving the line. Moving "1" cannot move negative infinity towards infinity because you are just moving one number. There would be no way of moving negative infinity towards infinity even though you can picture yourself moving the line geometrically with one action. A contradiction as apparent as that means it doesn't exist in the real world.

Yes, we can have abstract lines that go in either direction infinitely, but we are talking about time here being a line in the real world. Maybe it is just a ray.
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RJG
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Joined: March 28th, 2012, 8:52 pm

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by RJG »

Kane Jiang wrote:Yes, we can have abstract lines that go in either direction infinitely, but we are talking about time here being a line in the real world.
Isn't time 'real'? ...and hasn't it always existed (infinitely in both directions)?

Isn't time like numbers on a number line? Isn't there always a time/number before any other time/number? And isn't there always a time/number after any other time/number?
Kane Jiang
Posts: 42
Joined: August 8th, 2019, 5:28 am

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by Kane Jiang »

Yes, I believe time is real. I don’t believe lines are real. I believe the one dimensional equivalent of infinite space is a ray, not a line.
Kane Jiang
Posts: 42
Joined: August 8th, 2019, 5:28 am

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by Kane Jiang »

RJG wrote:What? ..."time began"??? ..."a beginning of infinity"??? Two logical contradictions here:

1. There can be no "beginning" to time. "Beginning" implies time. Time cannot exist before it exists.

2. "Infinity" has NO "beginning" point. Something without a beginning, has no beginning.
True.
RJG wrote:Isn't time like numbers on a number line? Isn't there always a time/number before any other time/number? And isn't there always a time/number after any other time/number?
I believe the number line either isn't really a line or isn't real. About that last part of the questions, true for the number line.
gater
Posts: 267
Joined: September 6th, 2019, 12:02 am

Re: Could everything have existed forever?

Post by gater »

Some things are finite - some things are infinite. When you ask about "everything" - that's impossible to answer with a yes or no.
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