That is not my claim, so none of your arguments against that claim pertain to me.
Do you want to try again?
No, let's not, since that isn't my claim, either.
Says who? And according to what evidence? When did nothing exist?
{Snip}
No, I'm trying to point out that there's no evidence that there ever was a start, there was no time that nothing existed, and so there is no first thing.
Thanks for elaborating. I see what you are saying. I think we are saying some of the same things, but we are looking at it from different angles using different words. If we remove the literal semantics of the words, it is clearer that when I say literally nothing in one instance, we are talking about the same thing: "thing A" has always been there, and we are, or are a part of "thing A". I am thinking of this thing as "the first thing," but also the possibility that it is "nothing" (or, as you seem to be referring, "something").
It's hard to explain what I mean; words are hard in philosophical subjects. I guess I mean something along the lines of we are both suggesting the possibility that we are that thing, or part of that thing that is just there with no explanation of what or why it came to be because it just is and has always been (you're just labeling it something, I'm just labeling it nothing).
So, probably my fault; I think I'm also doubling up on some of the things I'm saying sometimes because I am conceptualizing things differently due to the concept of words behind them, but I am really talking about the same thing (ie: if we are "God" and "God" is the thing that exists, we could be "God" -- this would also just be the "nothing" or the "something" to which we refer) and that I am sometimes mixing phrasing up due to the complexity and my primitive mind.
Let me see if I can clarify and expand my hypotheses by doing some better wording:
1. We are an existence that has been and will always be. We were not created; we are simply there. There could be, but are not necessarily, other existences or entities that have been and will always be, or those that have been created by other existences, or even by ours. If there are other things that exist, they may or may not effect or interact with us in some manner; they could be relevant or irrelevant to our existence.
2. Our existence did not exist before it was created directly or indirectly by something best conceptualized in #1. Whatever created us may or may not still exist, or may exist in a different state than when our existence was created. There could be multiple things that created us separately or in unison. If there are other things that exist through creation or that are simply there, they may or may not interact with or be relevant to us in some manner, which may or may not be dependent in some way on whether they had a role in creating our existence.
What this boils down to, overall is: I think we are eternal, or we were created by something eternal, either directly or indirectly. I think those are the only two options.