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: the article suggests that knowledge of self is refferential, comparative. if everything or nothing is familiar to you, then you can not be lost. the state 'lost' implies lack of refference to a map or plan that is accepted as 'known'. : if you find yourself in a crowd, how do you know you are not one of the others in the crowd? seem absurd? to you, you are you. to me, you could be anyone. how could i know you from anyone else in the crowd? i may consider you lost in that scene. that may not be helpful. : place twenty, one-litre capacity water-filled balloons into a plastic bag. is that one bag with twenty litres of water in it, one bag with five gallons of water in it, twentyone bags and some water, twenty litres of water with a multi-chambered loss inhibitor or a metaphore for you physical being? : hope this is helpful- i had fun doing it either way. : sean : : Could someone help me as to how to go about writing an argumentative and ysis paper towards this article? : : : : : WHERE : : : Where are you? : : Obvious answer: “Here.” : : Where is “here”? : : If you were “here” with us, you would be in Boonsboro. Some of our friends say Boonsboro is nowhere. The map says it’s a small town in western Maryland. Maryland is somewhere—on the east coast of the United States. It might be in the northern hemisphere, or it might be in the western hemisphere. Or perhaps both. We’re not sure. It doesn’t really matter. What hemisphere we’re in depends upon an arbitrary partitioning of the Earth. : : Where is Earth? For if we know we’re on Earth but we don’t know where Earth is, we don’t really know where we are. Fortunately, another map tells us Earth is the third planet from the sun in our solar system, our solar system is an outer arm of the Milky Way galaxy, which is in the Local Cluster of galaxies, which, finally, is in the universe. But where is the universe? : : Now there’s a question: Where is the universe? : : Some say the universe is everywhere. But this answer at most locates us within the universe. It does not give the universe a location. Suppose you are lost at sea and over the radio a distant voice asks where the sea is. Looking around, you say, “Everywhere.” This merely locates you somewhere on the sea. It does not locate the sea. Unless you know what lies beyond the borders of the sea, you are still lost. : : So what lies beyond the borders of the universe? Space? No, the universe can’t be in space, because by universe we mean the totality of everything. All Space must be in the universe. Where, then, is the universe? Up to now, we’ve located each thing by locating it within a containing space. The universe, however, is the ultimate containing space: By definition, the universe contains everything. The universe could be somewhere only if there were something the universe did not contain. But there isn’t. The universe, therefore, is not anywhere at all; it’s nowhere. : : If that seems puzzling, consider this. You’ve probably heard it said that the universe is expanding. What is the universe expanding into, if there is no space beyond it? It seems obvious that if something is expanding, it must be expanding into something else. The universe, however, is supposedly expanding without expanding into anything. It’s expanding because the distances among the galaxies are increasing over time. : : In the distant past, according to many scientists, the entire universe was the size of a pinhead. Where was the space then that is around us now? If the universe was the size of a pinhead, where was the space then that is now Boonsboro, Maryland? Either this space was somewhere in the pinhead universe, or else it was nowhere at all. : : So right now we’re in a universe that is nowhere! In one sense, of course, we’re still somewhere. We’re in Boonsboro, Maryland, on the east coast of the United States, in the northern or western hemisphere, on the planet Earth, in our solar system, inside an outer arm of the Milky Way galaxy, in the Local Cluster of galaxies, inside the universe. But, ultimately, we’re nowhere. : : What seems so solidly in place all around us is floating freely in nothing. Ultimately, there is absolutely no support, no foundation, no container, nothing to make the whole secure. : : Does that make us feel insecure? You bet is does. So we’ve partitioned the universe not just into galaxies and solar systems and planets and hemispheres and countries and cities, but even down to streets and numbered houses. We can locate each other. We cannot locate the whole. We’re still nowhere. : : On a huge ocean liner you hear a voice over the intercom: “Folks, this is the captain speaking. I have no idea where we are. We are on a sea that stretches from horizon to horizon, but I don’t know where the sea is. We’re completely lost.” Your friend calls you on the phone and says, “Is the captain crazy? He may be lost. The ship may be lost. But I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am. I’m on deck 3, cabin 381. I know where I am.” : : Your friend’s answer might serve some practical purposes. He might want to have his tuxedo pressed for the evening ball. But his answer is also a way of shielding himself form the awesome truth that everyone is lost. : : So where are we? Above us there’s a sky full of stars. Below us the Earth. Behind us a mountain. In front, a long meadow descends into a valley. Woods to the right and left. We know where we are. We’re exactly where some of our friends say we are: nowhere. : : Where are you?

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