Object Permanence

Full Title or Meme

The concept of Object Permanence is not naturally part of any system of knowledge. It needs to be learned by any information processor, including every human being.

Concept

• Since the beginning of Philosophy the concept of object identity has been assumed to be a part of human understanding.
• Only when Jean Piaget bean to study how babies learn has the concept of Object Permanence actually been investigated.
• Piaget showed that babies are at first confused at the "disappearance" of an adult behind a piece of paper, and surprised and delighted at the return of the adult when the paper is snatched away. What exists at first is the "event" of the "disappearance" and the event of the "reappearance".
• With the introduction of Relativity by Einstein the very existence of objects like electrons and protons has become something that can only be deduced from the events that we can measure.