andrel wrote:
> I don't want to spoil your gedanken experiment, but in modern physics 
> you can not distinguish one (e.g.) hydrogen atom from another.

You say this, but it's not actually true.  You cannot distinguish two 
hydrogen atoms as long as you ignore the stuff that lets you distinguish 
them.  Like, say, their positions.

Certainly the hydrogen atoms in my coffee are distinguishable from the 
hydrogen atoms emitting light eight minutes ago in the sun.

Basically, science has a list of "things it's safe to ignore when 
replicating an experiment."  Given that list, hydrogen atoms are 
indistinguishable. But there's still a list.

It's like saying "pennies are indistinguishable, from a spending point 
of view. I can replace one penny with any other penny."  Yet I'll still 
get arrested for putting all your pennies in my bank account.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     Remember the good old days, when we
     used to complain about cryptography
     being export-restricted?

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