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Re: Energy



I thought light was something that produced a certain agreed upon sensory
perception.

bc

P.s. this means it can also be an electrical stimulus from an implanted
electrode.

Larry Smith wrote:

At 12:50 PM -0400 9/18/01, John S. Denker wrote:
We are starting to achieve some clarity.

I agree. Thanks for the continued patience.

There are many cases where it is fine to talk about energy change. Indeed
I can define flow in terms of change, plus some additional concepts:

Flow means that any positive change in a given region is
balanced by a simultaneous negative change in an adjacent region.

In more detail:

Flow of quantity X means that any increase in quantity X
in a given region is balanced by a simultaneous decrease
in quantity X in an adjacent region.

That's what flow means. That all it means. That is what it has always meant.

Flow = change + balance + simultaneity + adjacency.

John, I would be interested in knowing if you tell your students that this
is what "flow" means, or does the word "flow" conjure up the movement of
_stuff_ in their minds?

We certainly have many instances where words in ordinary street
conversation don't mean exactly what they do in physics, I just never
realized that "flow" was one of them.

Thanks,
Larry

P.S. I would also like protagonists on both sides of this debate to tell me
what light is. Thanks.