True or False; If it can't be measured, it doesn't exist?

Question

True or False; If it can't be measured, it doesn't exist?

Answer 1

False. Space cannot be measured, but we have proof of its existence.

Answer 2

depends on your outlook on life. movement cant be measured but it clearly exists. (movement cannot be measured, only compared. for those reading this that disagree just think about how movement is measured and you will see it is just a comparison of two points. starting and ending. ie mph is a measure of where an object will be in an hour, not how fast something is moving)

Answer 3

Yes . . . but in most things no.  Love can't be measured.  We either love or we don't love.  Love is the ultimate.  It can't be measured but we know it (eventually) when we feel it.  In just about every other area though, I'd have to take the more objective view point that if it can't be measured it doesn't exist.

Answer 4

The contrapositive of this argument is "if it exists, then it can be measured". We can look at this from a quantum mechanics point-of-view. We know that systems have position and momentum. Theoretically speaking, such systems have a precise position and momentum at any given point in time. However, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the error range of the two measures will be greater than zero, meaning that it is impossible to measure either property to precision.

OK, by the argument, we are taking a measurement of something, even if it is inaccurate. However this does call into question the definition of measure. Does measure call in for approximations, which is what a non-zero error range effectively is? For example, I can count with precision the number of characters this response has (after I finish of course), and theoretically the number of atoms that my computer has, but if we allow for error ranges, then that could apply to any hypothetical system, rendering the argument moot.

Furthermore, in terms of quantum mechanical measurement, the maths suggest that once a measurement of a system is made, the system state changes. While it might have existed prior to measurement, then it ceased upon being measured.

To answer the question, I will say true, but only within a limited degree.

Answer 5

false... example: air...