Can an incessant force – such as gravity appears to be – be mediated by discrete structures? A chain made of discrete links comes to mind, so the answer is yes. This snaking object shows that it can. However, the reason that a chain produces pull is that discrete links are tied to each other into a ‘continuous’ chain. The chain is not made of a single piece. We say that the chain is continuous because pull travels uninterruptedly from one end of it to the other. It is not the chain that is continuous, but force which is incessant or constant as a result of the peculiar architecture of this intermediary. In fact, any macro object in the Universe can do just as well as a chain. Take a human. If we pull on a man’s feet, the head will follow. This is not because the man is made of a single piece. It is because the force is relayed uninterruptedly through him. Every atom must be in physical contact with the next one in order for this to happen. We would not be able to explain this simple phenomenon with discrete particles. If force itself is a particle as Quantum urges us to believe, we could talk about the particle itself being continuous. However, the mechanics have no use for such a hypothesis. Mathematics deals exclusively with motion and could care less about structure (Physics). In Quantum, ‘continuous force’ actually means incessant pelting. The mathematicians visualize constant push as a shower of discrete particles striking an object repeatedly. Think of sandblasting or spray-painting. Such activities appear to run without interruption when, in fact, at the micro scale, they are digital. For example, a waterfall appears to be continuous when it is in fact made of gazillions of water molecules. This means that, irrespective of whether we can measure it or not, from a strictly conceptual point of view there will necessarily be a spatial gap between molecules. Otherwise, we couldn’t talk about discrete molecules. After one molecule pushes against the plane of the lake below, the next one does not instantly follow. From a strictly conceptual point of view, particles have no ability to generate ‘continuous’ push. With pull it’s more readily testable. Unless we have continuity, we cannot guarantee the integrity of the force. We cannot even imagine two discrete particles pulling on each other. We could postulate, in the alternative, that particles interlock like the links on a chain, but this is not what Quantum theorizes. Quantum treats particles as independent entities. Therefore, the particles that QM postulates have no way of generating either structural continuity or dynamic ‘incessant-ness.’ In QM, push is discontinuous and pull is undefined because all proposals based on particles are inherently discontinuous. Intuition leads us to conclude that pull is inconceivable without ‘incessant-ness.’ A lot depends on what we mean. If I pull on a rope that pulls on a donkey, there are two interfaces: hand-rope and rope-donkey. Is the rope pulling on the donkey, or am I pulling on the donkey via the rope? What if I dispense with the rope altogether and pull directly on the donkey? Am I pulling on the donkey or is my shoulder pulling on my hand which is pulling on the donkey? Or is it my mind that is pulling on my shoulder which is pulling on my hand? Clearly, with pull, we have to specify the participants and compromise on a definition. How many interfaces intervene in pull? Should we regard every segment separately? If I do not pull on the rope, can the rope of its own volition pull on the donkey? Or should we just call this tension? For now, let’s leave this much as food for thought. Meanwhile, let’s just finish up with another intuitive aspect of pull: straightness.
You see, Al? If you want to keep holding my head, you must tug at my hair continuously.