I struggle to see the sense in defining anything as relative. — Matt Thomas
So, I would describe the two examples you gave as equally absolute and relative, and equally neither. — Matt Thomas
A thing is either superior to something else or it is not. A thing is either flying or it is not. — Matt Thomas
So I'm asking, what is the point in describing anything as relative if that 'relative' aspect can be defined completely synonymously in a way that most people here seem to describe as an example of absolute? — Matt Thomas
I know, not quite what you mean. :cool: — jgill
But note how fractals neatly express the intermediate case between the continuous and the discrete. — apokrisis
The continuous is the limit of the discrete. The limit definition of the common integral does the job. — jgill
Don't need fractals. There is no intermediate case. — jgill
Why is differentiation reciprocal to integration? — apokrisis
The real world of natural processes is pretty fractal, ain't it? Mountains, coastlines, rivers, earthquakes — apokrisis
A coastline is irregular over every scale of observation because it is a dynamical balance between smoothness and roughness. Or "integration and differentiation". — apokrisis
But maybe the Cosmos just ain't a computation as maths would like to demand, and instead dynamical balance — apokrisis
You've got to be kidding. Reciprocal? — jgill
In a very rough sense of the word. Not mathematically. No coastline is patterned the same upon closer and closer examination. — jgill
No reason to assert that "dynamical balance" is not mathematical. — jgill
Happy to be of service.
What I didn't get was how it relates to the concepts of 'relative' and 'absolute'. — Vera Mont
What is an object without its characteristics?
— Matt Thomas
unknowable — Vera Mont
I think the easiest way to have evidence for ↪apokrisis' thesis is to admit that despite the ambiguities surrounding the concepts of relative and absolute, some things are more relative and some things are less relative. — Leontiskos
I am interested to hear what people have to say about this. I'm open to hearing an approach from any direction. — Matt Thomas
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.