John K Clark <johnkc@well.com> wrote:
> harv@gate.net (Harvey Newstrom) Fri, 17 Jul 1998 21:26:42 -0400
> >Some claim that there is only one person,
> Yes, I claim that.
> >one body, one brain, one physical entity.
> Well I never claimed that because I don't think it's true
> >We know that atoms are interchangeable.
> Exactly correct, interchangeable.
> >All hydrogen atoms, for example, are identical.
> Exactly correct, identical.
> >Any two hydrogen atoms can be switched with no discernible effect.
> Exactly correct, no discernible effect.
> >Does this mean that there is only one hydrogen atom in the entire
> >universe?
> No, it means that if one hydrogen atom is in a process and you
> interchange it with another identical hydrogen atom there will be no
> discernible >effect,
Good, this seems to agree with my understanding of physics. As long as you count each body, each brain, each atom as separate although identical. Some people on this list disagree that there can be more than one of any identical objects. They seem to count one body, one brain, one wall, one hydrogen atom, as long as they are indistinguishable.
-- Harvey Newstrom <mailto:harv@gate.net> Author, Engineer, Entrepreneur, <http://www.gate.net/~harv> Consultant, Researcher, Scientist. <ldap://certserver.pgp.com>