The History of Nothing Trivia Quiz

Answer: kahuna

There are multiple contexts in which the word nothing is used. When a person is described as a nothing, it means they are insignificant (whether in terms of power or of fame); a kahuna, on the other hand is a big deal. When the term is applied in a numerical context, you can find lots of synonyms, many of them colloquial, and often actually meaning a very small amount, as opposed to absolutely nothing.

As well as the options listed in the question, these include zero, goose egg, duck, nil, zip, diddly-squat - you get the idea.

Answer: It is neither odd nor even.

Since 0/2 = 0, with no remainder, 0 is even. The other statements can be shown to be true.
When you add 0 to any number, you get that number as the answer; this is the definition of an additive identity.
The definitions of positive and negative numbers are both made in reference to the number being greater than or less than zero, so 0 does not belong to either group.
When numbers are written using a numerical base system, each digit has to be located in a place which indicates the presence of certain values. Starting on the right end, the first place counts how many units there are, the second how many of the base value, the third how many of the base squared, etc. The number 203, using our usual base of ten, has 3x1, 0x10, and 2x100. (There were older systems of notation, before 0 was used to show an empty place value, that just left gaps in the numbers, so 203 would have been show as 2 3. This was not totally satisfactory, as a sequence of several empty places was hard to display accurately.)

Answer: Vacuum

The word vacuum comes from one of several Latin words, depending on your etymological source. All of them relate to the concept of being or becoming empty. Strictly speaking, a vacuum is hypothetical, and in reality we only see partial vacuums. Even in regions of space which have almost no matter or energy, there is something. Philosophers, starting with the ancient Greeks, have debated whether a true vacuum (sometimes referred to as a void) is possible. Scientists, starting in the 17th century, have created partial vacuums, with practical applications including the incandescent light bulb and the vacuum cleaner.

Answer: Freedom

The song was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, and originally recorded by Roger Miller, but it is the version performed by Janis Joplin on the posthumously-released album 'Pearl' that springs immediately to mind for most people. It recounts a trip across the southern part of the United States, starting with hitching a truck ride from Baton Rouge to New Orleans (although later reference to the Kentucky coal mines suggests their trip had started earlier) and finishing with a parting of the ways in California.

According to the third verse (using Kristofferson's lyrics - every performer modifies them slightly):

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free
Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues
And buddy, that was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee."

Answer: Ex nihilo nihil fit

'Something Good' was written for the film version of 'The Sound of Music', replacing 'An Ordinary Couple', the romantic duet between Maria and Captain von Trapp in the stage show. The duet is early in the second act, when Maria has been sent back by the abbess to deal with her feelings rather than run away from them.

The incorrect options deal with related concepts. 'Creatio ex nihilo' refers to the creation of something where there was nothing before, as the Bible is sometimes said to describe the process of creation in Genesis. (It should be noted, however, that the text has not always been interpreted that way - it only appears in theological exegesis around 200 CE.) 'Nihil sub sole novum' translates as 'nothing new under the sun', and 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' means 'after this, therefore because of this'.

'Ex nihilo nihil fit' was first argued by Parmenides of Elea, around 500 BCE. Although we only have fragments of one of his poems, his ideas were so widely discussed that we have a clear understanding of them. Aristotle laid out the argument in 'Physics', and Lucretius in 'De Rerum Naturam' ('On the Nature of Things'). It is philosophically akin to the pragmatic scientific concept of the conservation of mass-energy, which (in a simplistic form) says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed from one form to another.

Answer: Jean-Paul Sartre

To use its full title, 'Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology' was considered groundbreaking in its time, although somewhat outdated even by the time of Sartre's death. Many of its ideas built on the work of the three philosophers used as incorrect options. Ontology is the philosophical field of study that considers the nature of reality and existence.

Descartes made the classic statement 'I think therefore I am' as a starting point to considering how we can know anything for sure - it starts with certainty as to our own existence. Husserl developed the field of phenomenology, the philosophical study of experience and consciousness, in the early 20th century. Heidegger's 'Being and Time' applied Husserl's methods to ontology. Sartre acknowledged Heidegger's work as the immediate stimulus that produced his own work, which expressed a number of significant ideas, including 'existence precedes essence' (what you do in your life defines who you are as a person).

Answer: Sinead O'Connor

Prince gave the song to a project of his, funk band The Family, to include in their eponymous 1984 album. He later recorded it as a duet with Rosie Gaines in 1993, but his original 1984 recording was not released until 2018. In 1990 Sinead O'Connor turned it into a power ballad, with an award-winning video that focussed on the singer's face as she mirrored the emotions about which she was singing.

The song reached the top of over twenty different charts, including in the United States (Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Alternative Songs), United Kingdom (Official Charts Company's UK Singles), Ireland (IRMA), Australia (ARIA) and New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ).

Not to mention most of Europe!

Answer: Porgy and Bess

This 1936 'folk opera' had music from George Gershwin, with a libretto from his brother Ira and Dubose Heyward, who wrote the 1925 novel 'Porgy' on which it was based. The storyline follows the efforts of Porgy, a disabled beggar, to save the woman he loves (Bess) from the clutches of her lover (the violent Crown) and her drug dealer (Sportin' Life). 'I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'' is sung several times in the second act, first as Porgy is declaring his new-found optimistic approach to life in Catfish Row, and again as he watches Bess head off with the others on a picnic which he cannot attend due to his disability.

While controversy reigned from the start as to the validity of the Gershwins' attempt to create a folk opera when it was based on folk traditions that were clearly not their own, at least the original show did provide an opportunity for classically-trained African-American actors to perform on Broadway. The show includes a number of songs which have become standards, including 'Summertime' (the opening number sung by Clara) and 'It Ain't Necessarily So' (sung by Sportin' Life at the picnic in the second act).

Answer: Sergeant Schultz

Between 1965 and 1971, the inept Colonel Klink (played by Werner Klemperer) presided over Stalag 13, a prisoner-of-war camp with a perfect record of no escapes - because Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane) and his men came and went as they pleased using their tunnels and other ploys, and had no interest in escaping. To some extent, their impunity came from the fact that Sergeant Schultz (Jon Banner) found it easier to feign ignorance than to face up to the obvious shenanigans.

He was particularly susceptible to bribery in the form of some of the excellent food produced by Corporal Le Beau (Robert Clary).

His claim to ignorance varied during the show, but most commonly was along the lines of, "I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!" or, in later seasons, "I know nothing, nothing!"

Answer: Seinfeld

'Seinfeld' originally aired from 1989 through 1998, so (like some of the incorrect options) was not entirely a product of the '90s, but that was the time when a significant portion of its episodes aired. Starring Jerry Seinfeld as a fictional version of himself, it wasn't actually about nothing, but about the trivialities that can loom large in our lives at times.

Classic episodes involved trying to find where the car was parked in a large garage, waiting to get a table in a busy restaurant, the ethics of attending a movie you had planned to see with a friend who cannot be there that night, and (in many different ways) how to cruise along through life in your own comfortable bubble, without having to worry too much about how your actions impact others. Many of the trivialities on which it focuses are familiar to urban and suburban viewers everywhere, and the show was genuinely funny in its ability to laugh at itself.