Things & Values
Things & Values
"To be is to be the value of some variable or of some values for some variables"
[George Boolos*]
In mereophysics all “things” are interpreted as being fractions of the universe with their individual values all ranging from 0 to 1:
\[0\leq \Phi_i \leq1 \]
If a thing is “existent” it takes a non-zero value:
\[0 < \Phi_i \leq1 \]
If a thing is “non-existent” (or “not yet existent” or “no more existent”) it takes exactly the value zero for any variable with the potential of changing to a non-zero value of some variable i.e. with the potential of becoming an existent thing:
\[0=\Phi_i \]
If a thing is the only thing existing (in a particular region), it takes the value 1 (in that particular region):
\[1=\Phi_i \]
The thing “0” can be considered as the matrix, as “the vacuum”, or simply as a region of “spacetime”.
* George Boolos: “to be is to be the value of a variable (or to be some values of some variables)”,
Journal of Philosophy, 81(1984) , 430-49
