to clarify: i was speaking about the object and singularity from our reference point, outside the balck hole. i was also speaking in the strictest sense in that the main singularity does not ever become "nothing", it's still there, just in increasingly smaller sizes. it can never become "infinitely small" in surface area, or "turn into nothing".

much like graphing y=2^x, the line will never reach 0 on the x axis in quadrant II, though it will forever come increasingly close. i believe we're talking about the same paradox, i've never heard the lion/gladiator reference.

of course, my argument is based on the premise that matter inside a black hole behaves under gravity as matter outside a black hole does.

in thinking about this, i've come up with another question; if you have two bodies that total over 3 solar masses (but under 6 so each one does not "singularize" on its own) orbiting each other close and fast enough, what happens around the points on the edge of the system where the additive gravity of both bodies is greater than c?

those points would have to start at the center of each body and extend away from the center of mass. obviuosly it wouldn't last long, but it'd be cool to hear a physicist talk about it.

mrpex