Can something exist and not exist at the same time ?

[Massimo2002]

I was on The Christian Fourm and say a question simaler to this and thought that it was profound so I created my own question inspired by that thread now just because I don't see a cat outside doesn't mean that the cat outside doesn't exist it just doesn't exist to my conscious perception.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I was on The Christian Fourm and say a question simaler to this and thought that it was profound so I created my own question inspired by that thread now just because I don't see a cat outside doesn't mean that the cat outside doesn't exist it just doesn't exist to my conscious perception.

Something can't exist and not exist simultaneously as far as I know. Not perceiving something doesn't make it nonexistent. It just makes me unaware. Many things exist that I do not know about, but that only means it exists in some sort of superposition state for me alone.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Something can't exist and not exist simultaneously as far as I know. Not perceiving something doesn't make it nonexistent. It just makes me unaware. Many things exist that I do not know about, but that only means it exists in some sort of superposition state for me alone.

Well, it assumes that induction is valid and that logic is universal for everything. In a sense for how it appears humans know, it would be unknown if something exists and doesn't exist at the same time (and place).

 

[PearlSeeker]

Aristotle describes potentiality and actuality, or potency and action, as one of several distinctions between things that exist or do not exist. In a sense, a thing that exists potentially does not exist; but, the potential does exist. And this type of distinction is expressed for several different types of being within Aristotle's categories of being. For example, from Aristotle's Metaphysics, 1017a:[24]

- We speak of an entity being a "seeing" thing whether it is currently seeing or just able to see.

- We speak of someone having understanding, whether they are using that understanding or not.

- We speak of corn existing in a field even when it is not yet ripe.

- People sometimes speak of a figure being already present in a rock which could be sculpted to represent that figure.

Potentiality and actuality - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Heyo]

I was on The Christian Fourm and say a question simaler to this and thought that it was profound so I created my own question inspired by that thread now just because I don't see a cat outside doesn't mean that the cat outside doesn't exist it just doesn't exist to my conscious perception.

Law of noncontradiction - Wikipedia

 

[crossfire]

I was on The Christian Fourm and say a question simaler to this and thought that it was profound so I created my own question inspired by that thread now just because I don't see a cat outside doesn't mean that the cat outside doesn't exist it just doesn't exist to my conscious perception.

Riddle me this: can something exist and not exist at the same time? Yes, a delusion.

Revelation 17:8

8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

 

[PearlSeeker]

Riddle me this: can something exist and not exist at the same time? Yes, a delusion.

... things imagined, plans, visions, possible (currently unactualised) things, something staying in memory...

 

[ChristineM]

I think the closrst i can get is Schrödingers cat. That can either exist as a cat or cease to exist as a cat and spend the rest of its days existing as something else, a dead cat.

But you won't know until you open the bocy

 

[ChristineM]

... things imagined, plans, visions, possible (currently unactualised) things...

Which exist as electro chemical actions in the brain

 

[PearlSeeker]

Which exist as electro chemical actions in the brain

Not all. Even if there were no more beings with brains, something will still happen/change. That means it doesn't exist yet but the possibility exists.

Unless you believe nothing is actually happening and no natural laws exist.

 

[ChristineM]

Not all. Even if there were no more beings with brains, something will still happen/change. That means it doesn't exist yet but the possibility exists.

Unless you believe nothing is actually happening and no natural laws exist.

In this universe it is impossible for nothing to exist.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Law of noncontradiction - Wikipedia

Catuṣkoṭi - Wikipedia

Four-valued logic - Wikipedia

 

[RestlessSoul]

I think the closrst i can get is Schrödingers cat. That can either exist as a cat or cease to exist as a cat and spend the rest of its days existing as something else, a dead cat.

But you won't know until you open the bocy

Until the measurement is taken (you open the box) the cat is in a superposition, ie. both alive and dead simultaneously. It's a metaphor for the measurement problem Measurement problem - Wikipedia in quantum physics.

 

[PearlSeeker]

In this universe it is impossible for nothing to exist.

But is it possible that there is no change?

 

[ChristineM]

Until the measurement is taken (you open the box) the cat is in a superposition, ie. both alive and dead simultaneously. It's a metaphor for the measurement problem Measurement problem - Wikipedia in quantum physics.

Yes

 

[ChristineM]

But is it possible that there is no change?

A perfect vacuum without dimensions cannot exist.

Entropy means everything changes

 

[HonestJoe]

I was on The Christian Fourm and say a question simaler to this and thought that it was profound so I created my own question inspired by that thread now just because I don't see a cat outside doesn't mean that the cat outside doesn't exist it just doesn't exist to my conscious perception.

This is a sematic issue, not a philosophical one. It isn't possible for the same definition of exist. You're not using the same definition though, one being "physically present in a defined location" and the other "within the scope of your senses and awareness".

 

[Madsaac]

Yes it can, depending on the perspective.

Below is straight off the internet.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If by 'sound' you mean 'acoustic vibrations in the air', the answer is 'Yes. ' But if by 'sound' you mean an auditory experience in the brain, the answer is 'No.

Does the sound exist? Yes and No

Here's another one
Consider a blind person standing outside. The blind person does not see any light, so does that mean that there is not daylight? Does one have to be sighted for there to be light?

Actually, being conscious of something allows it to exist or not exist at the same time. For example, the Eiffel Tower doesn't exists for dogs

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Yes it can, depending on the perspective.

Below is straight off the internet.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If by 'sound' you mean 'acoustic vibrations in the air', the answer is 'Yes. ' But if by 'sound' you mean an auditory experience in the brain, the answer is 'No.

Does the sound exist? Yes and No

Here's another one
Consider a blind person standing outside. The blind person does not see any light, so does that mean that there is not daylight? Does one have to be sighted for there to be light?

Actually, being conscious of something allows it to exist or not exist at the same time. For example, the Eiffel Tower doesn't exists for dogs

Well, yes, if you don't use contradiction in the same sense.

 

[Koldo]

Well, it assumes that induction is valid and that logic is universal for everything.

You mean deduction, right?

In a sense for how it appears humans know, it would be unknown if something exists and doesn't exist at the same time (and place).

Not just unknown. It is impossible.