Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory the natural numbers defines $1$ as $1 = \{\{\}\}$ but this does not seem right If 1 can be defined as the set that contains only the empty set then what of sets which contain one thing such as the set of people who are me.
number 1 does not just mean $1$ nothing, it means $1$ something. The definition does not seem to capture what we mean by numbers when we use them in our everyday lives.
I think I may be missing something in the explanations I have read.
Can anyone put me right on this.

$\{\{\}\}$ does contain one thing.  The thing that it contains is $\{\}$, which is something.
