Re: More on identifiers

Walter Mitty wrote:

> Consider two electrons. They both have the same mass, and they have the
> same charge. They might have opposite spins. But the minute we add a third
> electron, the spin of two of them is going to be identical. It seems that,
> on the surface at least, electrons do not have enough properties to carry
> identity. As you descend into lower level particles like quarks, things get
> even more this way. Particles seem more and more interchangeable.
> Subatomic particles might not have much to do with your objects in a box,
> but it seems to me that any theory of reality and identity that falls apart
> at the subatomic level should at least take that into account.

The way out of this supposed problem is always the same. Forget about modeling the real world. All you need to model--all you should EXPECT to model--is the testimony users will give about the real world (*including* their lies and misapprehensions).

You do not have to design a database that does magic. If the users can't formulate sensible assertions to put in the database that is their problem. If they've found a way to make sensible assertions, do what they do.

This is not a database problem.

-- 
Roy