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 |  The Container |  |
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Q: Is the glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
A: It is always full presuming this container and contents exist on Earth. Q: What? A: The container will always contain something unless it exists in a complete vacuum. Q: OK. It is 1/2 full of something other than air! Is it 1/2 full or 1/2 empty? A: It depends —— Q What does it depend on? A: If the container has been tested to ascertain the actual capacity. And if we presume the experiment is conducted within a known environment where the varied contents interact in a predictable way and have been accurately measured to determine if it is indeed a volume at exactly 1/2 the possible volume of the container. Q: Okay —— so it has been accurately measured and ascertained —— is it 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? A: It depends —— Q: Now what!? What does it depend on? A: If you are filling the glass it is 1/2 full. If you are emptying the glass it is 1/2 empty. Q: Seriously? Can’t you see the metaphor for how one views the world? A: Not at all. The potential volume and the current volume of a container has zero bearing on my world view. I have neither optimism nor pessimism based upon the state of this container —— either actual or theoretical. |
