comment by hidde-jan

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hidde-jan · 5183 days ago · link · · parent · post: A thought-experiment about matter, space, and time.

> "Now, imagine two identical particles and nothing else (Fig. 1A). Existence is a measure of relationships. (...) Except for their position, the particles are identical; therefore the distance between them is their only relationship. However, distance has a problem in this system. There is only one distance: the distance between the two particles. (...) Similar to the situation in the one-particle system, the distance between the two particles does not exist as there are no other distances to compare it to. There is no distance between the two particles, there are not two particles. The particles cannot exist."

I think this reasoning is flawed. The distance between the two particles is not only the relationship between the particles. The particles itself define a relationship with respect to the distance. Not only does the distance define the particles, the particles define the distance. What you are effectively trying to postulate is that sets of two items cannot exist. The premise that there are two particles implies that there exists some kind of distance, otherwise there would be only one particle.

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mk · 5183 days ago · link ·

I agree with your point. Unless these are point particles, which are mathematical constructs, they ought to have a spatial dimension, insofar as they don't wholly occupy the same position. That said, even if the system gains a definition of distance more quickly, I do think the result is similar. The notion of the 'distance defining the particles' as much as the 'particles define the distance' should be valid.

Another problem with these 'systems', is that I don't define exactly what constitutes a relationship. I am working on a follow-up essay where instead of relationships, these characteristics are defined only in terms of interaction; In this, relationship is past and possible future interaction. It's not an easy thing to do however, and I decided to start in the most clear and concise manner I could.

That said, your point is the one that has been raised most to me, and I think I am going to have to draft this introduction again where I address the nature of particles to some degree.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.