From: Mike Dougherty (msd001@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Feb 06 2009 - 19:52:43 MST
On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 11:37 AM, John K Clark <johnkclark@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 "Mike Dougherty" <msd001@gmail.com> said:
>> How many electrons are there? One? More than one?
> If you insist that identical things are not interchangeable then throw
> all your physics and chemistry and biology books away, not to mention
> logic.
I agree with you. I rarely insist on anything.
The physical position of two electrons might determine their
identities by storing this positional metadata outside the electrons
themselves. I think this arbitrarily introduces complexity.
Electrons are identical, they are interchangeable, they affect
chemistry and biology equally well as any other electron. If this
arbitrary additional information is applied to any single electron, it
would likely need to be applied to every electron. In that case, the
electron becomes a fundamentally different entity. If conversation
supposes that we can fundamentally alter the entities we are
discussing, how can we consistently agree on any point? Discussing
"identity" as a scientific entity without first proving (and agreeing
to) basic assumptions is ... groundless and illogical?
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