From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Oct 26 2002 - 07:58:25 MDT
Giu1i0 Pri5c0 writes
> I believe the two spheres would behave differently in some real world cases
> involving collisions and rotations(slightly different distribution of
> stresses etc.).
Yes.
> Anyway the spirit of the game is I believe: "suppose there is no way
> to find out the difference, what is the difference"? The answer is
> quite evident if the question is stated in these terms.
It is? Can you imagine a difference that exists but happens
to be beyond our ability to detect, or did you mean a difference
that *in principle* cannot be detected?
In the former case, I would say, it's clear that there is (or
could be) a difference. For example, physicists aren't entirely
*certain* that the exponent is exactly 2 in Newton's gravitation
law, at least not so sure as they are that planets move in ellipses.
But in the latter case, we must inquire deeply into the
propositions and context of the phenomenon, and quickly
entertain the likelihood that a difference undetectable
*in principle* is probably best considered to be no
difference at all.
Lee
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