Roland Schwaenzl wrote:
> Question: Is there an example of a gadget, which is NOT a resource?
>
Well, taking a broad definition for gadget, and a resource to be "anything
that has identity ... 'anything that is identifiable', i.e. anthing that
can be named or described", and pausing for a second to reflect on the
difficulty of answering that question (how can I tell you about things
which I can't name or describe?) I would suggest:
1) God, described by many as ineffable.
[http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2002/10/08.html:
"Incapable of being expressed in words".]
2) At a quantum level, particles can be in a state of entanglement, in
which they lose their identity.
[See http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-entangle/ for the theoretical
prediction and http://physicsweb.org/article/news/4/6/9 or
http://www.nature.com/nature/links/010927/010927-2.html for example
observations]
(Actually it is quite common in quantum statistical mechanics to talk about
indistinguishable particles, regardless of entanglement, but entanglement
is more fun.)
Phil
--
Phil Barker Learning Technology Adviser
ICBL, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Mountbatten Building, Heriot-Watt University,
Edinburgh, EH14 4AS
Tel: 0131 451 3278 Fax: 0131 451 3327
Web: http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/~philb/
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