3 ms·

The atomic/elemental model of matter is also a digital infinity, and it existed (unknown to humans, but existed) before language.

• edgyquant 4y ago
  This doesn’t make any sense. How could a model used by humans for predictions exist before human language?
  • ben_w 4y ago
    What is human language? Where is the boundary before which it's primate vocalisations and displays? Did those distant ancestors not model their environment and predict things?
  • dofnskd 4y ago
    I think what is being alluded to here is the "particulate principle", in other words the fact that atoms combine to produce a compound with emergent properties, rather than simply a blend of the properties of the constituents. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0140175089900158 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/014017... In chemistry, the distinction is often described as being between additive and emergent properties. The resulting range of possible chemical compounds is not quite an infinity, perhaps, but the particulate principle is clearly in the same category as the "digital infinity" concept.