Theos-Talk Archives (May 2003 Message tt00140)

Steve Stubbs wrote:
> <bill_meredith@e...> wrote:
> > Bill: I am not comfortable casting "An Omnipresent, Eternal, 
> Boundless, and
> > Immutable PRINCIPLE on which all speculation is impossible"
> If you think of it in relationship to consciousness it all makes 
> sense. Space, for example, is not nothing, although most people 
> think it is, but it is nothing to our consciousness since it presents 
> neither light, color, sound, or resistance to touch. (If it does, it 
> is not empty space.) One could call it No-Thing, since it is not a 
> material thing which stimulates our sense organs, and it is (as far 
> as we know), boundless and immutable, etc.
Also, the phrase is open to interpretation, where some interpretations 
make more sense than others. Clearly, it is possible to try to describe 
it or understand it, so interpreting the phrase "speculation is 
impossible" in the sense that you can't attempt to understand it is 
patently ridiculous.

On the other hand, let me tell you about an experience that I (and lots 
of other people) have had. There was a road I frequently took which very 
often had a major bottleneck, frequently taking up to 20 minutes to go 
about a mile. So, I tried to find some alternative route. Well, the 
planners in that area were well-prepared for people looking for 
alternative routes. Wherever I went, there was a maze of one-way 
streets, so that no matter which route I took, I only ended up right 
back where I started, at the beginning of the bottleneck. All I did in 
searching for the alternative route was to waste time.

I could therefore state that "any attempt to find a route around the 
bottleneck is impossible." It doesn't mean that you can't make an 
attempt; it means you just won't find one. Similarly, I think the phrase 
above means that, while it's physically possible to speculate on the 
principle, it won't get you anywhere.

Bart