Re: An uncountable countable set


Tony Orlow wrote:
Randy Poe wrote:
Tony Orlow wrote:
Han de Bruijn wrote:
Virgil wrote:

In article <d12a9$451b74ad$82a1e228$6053@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Han de Bruijn <Han.deBruijn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Randy Poe wrote, about the Balls in a Vase problem:

It definitely empties, since every ball you put in is
later taken out.
And _that_ individual calls himself a physicist?
Does Han claim that there is any ball put in that is not taken out?
Nonsense question. Noon doesn't exist in this problem.

Han de Bruijn

That's the question I am trying to pin down. If noon exists, that's when
the vase supposedly empties,

Why does the existence of noon imply there is a time
which is the last time before noon?

It doesn't.

- Randy


I never said it did. When did I say that?

I was responding to Han, who said that "If noon exists, that's when
the vase empties".

Noon exists.

But in order for the vase to transition from not-empty
to empty, there would have to be a last non-empty
moment. That would be the last time before noon.

I will offer this simple
logical argument. If the vase ever became empty, it would be because one
ball was removed,

Hence my continued statement that the vase does not
"become empty". It is non-empty at certain times and
empty at others. There is no transitional moment.

Noon is the first moment at which the vase is empty.

But noon is not the transitional moment. There's no
time just before noon where the transition happened.

- Randy

.

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