This is my abridged metaphysical explanation of the mystery of a universe that is both diverse and unified at the same time. Particularly it is my attempt to postulate that the numbers zero, one, two, and infinity add up to being different aspects of the same thing in this "wholeness math".
First of all, let's start with something that is whole and all-inclusive. For example, the totality of everything, all that is. We could get religious and call that God, or we can say that it is a holographic universe. We could say that it is inherently all in one piece and that any apparent separation is simply the convenient illusion of time and space and other dimensions. Thus this unbroken universe could be symbolized by the number 1.
Now, the interesting thing is that we can divide this wholeness into pieces in a myriad of ways. There is obviously a lot of stuff in the universe, a vast variety of ways of being and doing, lots of different phenomena to experience. And there are probably many more possible things that could be going on that we aren't even dreaming of yet.
One way of describing these "divisions" of wholeness is as equations. Most of us have learned algebra in school. We can construct all kinds of algebraic equations. An interesting thing about all equations is that the two sides of them are equal. Yes, of course, that is why we call them equations. We can also put the two sides of the equation over on one side and the result will always be zero. And there are an infinite number of ways we can do that.
For example:
X + (-X) = 0
We create a value "X" and a value "-X" and since they even each other out we get the result zero. We can do that a zillion different ways. E.g.:
2X+5Y-30Z - (2X+5Y-30Z) = 0
In more down-to-earth terms, you can divide a whole something into several pieces. The several pieces will always add up to being equal to the whole, no matter how complicated we get.
The zero represents an infinite potential. We can "divide" the zero into an infinite number of pieces, as long as the pieces always add back up to the zero we started with. So, in terms of equations we can represent wholeness with the number zero.
The zero also tells us that nothing is ever lost. The pieces always add up. And it represents all closed systems. For example, the second law of thermodynamics saying that the sum of energy remains constant. From our equation theory we can then also conclude that any positive energy is balanced out with a negative energy somewhere in the same system, to ensure that the equation always balances.
The equation idea is also found in what is known as Heisenberg's Uncertainty Theorem. The principle that an observer can never quite be sure what it is looking at, because the observer is itself part of the system. We can take a wholeness and divide it into an observer and that-which-is-observed. The two sides are inherently mirrors of each other. When one changes the other changes. But the equation always adds up.
The infinity is found in the infinite number of ways we can split things up. With the basic rule that an equation adds up to zero there is no limit to how many ways we can divide things. In other words, there is no limit to what kind of phenomena might exist in the universe, as long as each phenomenon is always balanced out by an equal quantum of phenomena of the opposite polarity.
The observer and the observed are part of this infinity of possibilities. There is no limit to how many different viewpoints one can assume on the universe. However, that which is observed will never be the whole universe, but simply the complentary part to the viewpoint one has assumed.
This can be endlessly puzzling as an observer can never quite seem to get a complete grip on what the universe really is. At least not until the observer stops seeing it as separate from himself and starts experiencing the unbroken wholeness of it all, including all sides of the equation at the same time.
So, the numbers zero, one and infinity all represent the mechanics of a wholeness that remains whole, but which we can nevertheless divide into complementary parts.
0 represents that the true nature of everything is not found by studying any of the manifest parts, because all the parts always even each other out and add up to zero. It also represents the belief that anything physical is illusion, again because if you take a big enough perspective and add it all up, it comes out to zero.
1 represents the unbroken wholeness of the universe. No matter what you do with it, or no matter what you appear to do with it, it remains in one piece. That is the "all is one", or "we are all one" idea. It is not the number 1 as compared to 2 or 3 or 4, but rather a one that is all-that-is, that inherently couldn't be any more or less.
2 represents the complementarity of anything that isn't whole. Whenever you find a particular something you can be sure that its complentary part is somewhere to be found. There are always two sides of the coin. There is no object that can be examined without an observer existing at the same time.
Infinity represents the unlimited number of things can be found within a wholeness. They are the facets of the hologram. None of these infinite things are the final truth about the wholeness, but that doesn't make them any less valid in their own right.
Now, as to the reason for this whole arrangement. If we look at it metaphysically or religiously, we can regard the Zero as the eternal indestructible universal consciousness, the unlimited space that anything can take place in, the quality that remains unchanged no matter what goes on in it, the Prime Mover Unmoved. The One is the unbroken pervasiveness of this consciousness, the inherent integrity of it, no matter what takes place in it. The number Two is the inherent ability to study things and to learn, by creating separateness and by having different pieces interact with each other. The Infinity represents the unlimited potential for learning, for exploring, and for newness.
So, despite being eternal and unbroken, the universal consciousness can nevertheless explore its own existence, experience life, discover new things about itself, and essential expand the possibilities of life indefinitely.
In this apparent paradox, of how one can be both 0, 1, 2, and infinity at the same time, being both eternally uninvolved and thoroughly enmeshed in the dynamics of life, how one can be both eternally unbroken and unified and also explore the diversity of experiences through separation at the same time, in this we might discover the meaning of life.
This might be the only meaningful way a whole eternal consciousness can expand itself, to not only possessing infinite potential, but also having explored these potentials from all possible angles and vantage points. It might be the way of improving something that inherently is beyond improving.
Well, I might have lost most of you at this point. And somebody with a traditional scientific or mathematical training might well say that this is utter complete nonsense. But, I had fun writing it.
- Flemming