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It's not nonsense, they are exactly right. The world is a sea of particles and energy which behave according to certain patterns (both fundamental laws and eme

It's not nonsense, they are exactly right. The world is a sea of particles and energy which behave according to certain patterns (both fundamental laws and emergent behavior). Some of these patterns are pertinent to us, so we name them, giving rise to a category. "Apple" is such a category. The clump of molecules on the table we denote with the term "apple" doesn't care that our brains have deemed it similar enough to certain other clumps of molecules to be placed in the same category. If all humans cease to exist, the clump of molecules may still be on the table, but there's no one left to consider it part of any category. If aliens then visit who can't eat the apple and aren't interested in botany, they may simply choose not to distinguish between apples and pears, or apples and any other fruit, or even apples and any other form of organic material. The same clump of molecules is there, but the categories it belongs to have changed.

marcusverus 4y ago
> The clump of molecules on the table we denote with the term "apple" doesn't care that our brains have deemed it similar enough to certain other clumps of molecules to be placed in the same category. If all humans cease to exist, the clump of molecules may still be on the table, but there's no one left to consider it part of any category. Correct. If all humans cease to exist, the human-made abstraction of "the apple" passes away. But an apple--the one on the table--is completely unaffected. The difference here is that between an abstraction and a concrete instantiation of said abstraction. The abstraction of "the apple" is indeed a subjective construct which would pass away with humanity. But OP said "an apple". "An apple" is a part of the physical universe. It is, like you said, a clump of molecules. Molecules that can be measured objectively. An apple is no more subjective than the orbital period of the earth or the length of the standard meter.

marcusverus 4y ago

> The clump of molecules on the table we denote with the term "apple" doesn't care that our brains have deemed it similar enough to certain other clumps of molecules to be placed in the same category. If all humans cease to exist, the clump of molecules may still be on the table, but there's no one left to consider it part of any category. Correct. If all humans cease to exist, the human-made abstraction of "the apple" passes away. But an apple--the one on the table--is completely unaffected. The difference here is that between an abstraction and a concrete instantiation of said abstraction. The abstraction of "the apple" is indeed a subjective construct which would pass away with humanity. But OP said "an apple". "An apple" is a part of the physical universe. It is, like you said, a clump of molecules. Molecules that can be measured objectively. An apple is no more subjective than the orbital period of the earth or the length of the standard meter.