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Anything that was = is 100% likely to have been. Anything that is = is 100% likely to be. Anything that could be = is 100% undetermined.

Since I'm pretty sure I'm not omnipotent, I'm confident none of you are either.

If it has existed or if it currently exists or there could be a possibility for its existence to become, then aren't all those antonyms to discovery/invention?

Should we be saying "so and so" and "such and such" was "inevitablezed"? Or maybe "immanented"?

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  • i am going to work out 100% today, that fact is for sure inevitablezed Commented 2 days ago
  • Haha. I guess by my own formula, going is future tense, that would make it undetermined. But if you do successfully work out today, than it was inevitable that you were going to exercise. Which I guess sounds kind of weird ?? Commented 2 days ago
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    Someone discovered Ancient Egypt mummies while someone other invented the laser. It is quite easy. Commented 2 days ago
  • I'm sorry, I guess I'm not explaining myself correctly. I don't understand by what you mean when you say someone discovered ancient Egypt mummies. Weren't they already there? And wasn't it already a practice to leave mummies behind? Wasn't that just sort of a thing that was going on? I guess like for example can I discover the muffin at the muffin shop? That's where muffins get made so I'm not really discovering anything. I'm stumbling upon the inevitable place that makes muffins. And aren't lasers a natural occurrence in the universe like glass or rubber? Is that an invention or a stumble? Commented 2 days ago

2 Answers 2

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Both these terms refer to state changes. Not about the object itself, but human or individual knowledge.

"Discovery" doesn't mean causing something to be. It refers to someone's knowledge of it.

I discovered my wife was cheating on me.

Prior to the discovery, her cheating existed but the speaker didn't know about it (they might have suspected, though).

Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930.

Pluto had existed for millions of years, but humans didn't know about it until this discovery occurred.

"Invention" refers to a state change. Prior to the invention, the artifact could have existed but it didn't; after, it (or the knowledge of how to create it) does exist.

Engineers at Apple invented the iPhone.

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  • Apologies for my ignorance. I've been trying to think of something lol cuz I just don't fully get it. The discovered wife cheating example, the discovery of her cheating existing prior to you being aware. Wouldn't it just work the same to say you learned your wife was cheating or 'your wife was cheating' cuz once you've learned of the cheating, you don't have to say words like discovered or found. Oof, that sounded better in my head but I'm going with it. The iPhone thing sort of follows the same, wasn't it just assembled? When all the components that made it, just other things that existed? Commented 2 days ago
  • Learned and discovered are essentially the same thing.
    – Barmar
    Commented 2 days ago
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    There may be a platonic ideal of the iPhone in existence, but someone has to figure out how to put all the pieces together to actually make one. That's invention.
    – Barmar
    Commented 2 days ago
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No.

Discovery refers to finding something not previously known. Previous existence does not negate that, and indeed is expected. You are discovering my answer.

Invention refers to creating something previously not available. Previous unknown existence does not change the process or the term. I am inventing an answer to your question.

If it was previously known/available to others, it may be rediscovery or reinvention. But the terms are still valid to describe the process.

In most cases both are "evitable" until the event has occurred. After which, of course, they appear inevitable.

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