I got convinced that all of them count as 1 chair. Closing poll

@100Anonymous

Woah woah woah, the logic in this question doesn't hold at all. If you agree that the chair formation counts, then every instance counts.

Otherwise, would the concept "data table" only count once? or are you making an effort to estimate every data table ever made?

Every distinct style of chair/table counting once? That's dramatically different than # of x, that would be # of styles/types of x.

@TheAllMemeingEye

@MarySmith People are debating that it is a category, a type of formation and thus must only count once. You can dispute this by making a good argument as to why instances of the formation would count.

@100Anonymous you said

Anything called a chair or table (e.g., multiplication tables, positions of authority) counts, but things similar to chairs or tables but not called as such (e.g., benches or desks) do not count.

So either stick to:

# of things called x

or change your criterion to

# of categories of things called x (infinite?).

@100Anonymous like a fair counterargument would be arguing the # or commonality of these "chairs", they're either chairs or not.

Like the Chairs (Chairmen/women) of boards/organizations, are known as chairs. They are called chairs. You'd estimate all such positions where or you'd disqualify them but you wouldn't count the category once unless you were counting categories instead of instances.

@MarySmith Not like that, a yoga pose is still one yoga pose even if 1000 people take its stance. That is their argument, that the "chair" is only a formation and thus counts as 1. But I get your point.

@100Anonymous a chair can be destroyed and at some point we would call it a pile of trash and not a chair/if we had a pile of pieces for a chair we wouldn't call it a chair until it was in a chair configuration/you're not counting sittable surfaces as chairs your counting things called chairs which would have to be identifable as such.

Arguements about category AFAIK aren't rebutting how often or how many of these molecules are configured as chairs, they're trying to get you to abstract out to DQ the mass of chairs as a type instead of the 1.7* 10^39 chairs

@MarySmith You're right, and that's why I'm making this poll, so I can decide whether to count them as one or many. It would be unfair of me to resolve either side, so I defer to a poll.

@100Anonymous another way of thinking about it,

how long does this molecule usually last in the form we'd call chair?

how long would a wooden/plastic chair last in a form we'd call chair?

You could argue the formation is so unstable/rare that the estimate of # is off, but even a wooden chair will entropy to a state of rubble

@100Anonymous another reason the category shouldn't count as 1.... It's not a chair, it's a catagory, a form, configuration, arraignment, pattern etc,

@MarySmith I agree, but I'm making a poll for unbiased judgement

A better wording would be "Does THE chair conformation of cyclohexane count as one chair or 1.7 * 10^39 chairs" :)