Dorian, you always speak in such vague terms, like stuff and things. Don't you ever talk about anything specific?

I hear this criticism from time to time, so I'll answer it once and for all: Stuff is continuous. Things are discrete. You can make things out of stuff and you can make stuff out of things. Any questions?

Abstract on Purpose

Archimedes is credited with saying, among other things, Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world. He said this putatively while demonstrating the lever, a device which trades mechanical force for distance. The lever is one member of the small catalogue of primitive machines from which all other machines are composed.

The tradeoff I make is specificity for consistency. In order to do what I do, I not only need a number of concepts to fit in my head at once, I need them to do pirouettes. There is plenty of time to reconcile ideas with reality after the manoeuvres are complete. After all, if your thinking doesn't lead to anything valuable in the world, what good is it?