Describing the impossible

[robvalue]

When we say something is impossible in reality, I think that we are often referring to our descriptive language rather than any actual limitations reality might have.

A common example is that, "A married bachelor is impossible". What we are really saying here is that if you present me with a person that I would label as being a bachelor, I would never also label them as married, and vice versa. So this is essentially a restriction I’m imposing on my own labelling system. It’s not a statement about what can and can’t occur in reality.

Another example more linked to reality itself is, "A square circle is impossible". Assuming we're not just talking about abstract theory, we are referring to patterns we might spot in reality. If we see some sort of shape, we use a label to identify it. What the statement above is saying is that if I map out a shape that I would call a circle, I would never also call it a square, and vice versa. It’s again a restriction on my labelling system only. We can similarly deconstruct the idea that, "It is impossible for god to make a rock he can’t lift".

When we make scientific statements, we would be talking in looser terms. We might say it is impossible for energy to be destroyed. I would translate this as meaning we have never yet had any evidence for energy being destroyed, and all our models indicate that this would not make sense. We're not claiming that it is literally impossible. At least, I hope any given scientist would not say that. If it did happen, we’d just have to rework our models and understanding. So we're saying it is impossible as long as our models prove to be accurate.