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> Your ice cube was never just an ice cube in the first place

That's my point. This idea that there are objects with mutable state is a myth. Even at the smallest scale, what we call elementary particles, are abstractions. There is nothing except the state of the universe at a given instant in time.

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Again, we are unable to work or perceive at that level. So the abstraction of state is incredibly useful to us non-sub-atomic beings.

Agreed, but if we're accepting an abstraction instead of reality, than arguing for mutability because you think it's reality doesn't make much sense now does it? You're saying it's okay to abstract things away from molecules, but it's not okay to abstract things away from mutation. Why?

(Note that I'm not even persuaded yet that mutation is reality. I'm just saying that even if mutation were reality, it doesn't follow that mutation is the best abstraction with which to model reality.)

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