The fact that you count something as an object or see the world in discreet terms is also similarly arbitrary. You could see "objects" as something that's more interconnected and thus would count them differently. If we were far smaller and "looking" at things on an atomic level, putting that grouping together would not be quite as likely. And even still, you're focusing on the "discreet" positive space versus the negative space.

There are many ways to view the world that also would create its own system of abstraction and eventually "come out to be true." You're just used to one particular variety and it's all you know, so you call it the truth.

Oi vey, engineers. Everything is so 1D.

I HIGHLY recommend reading this to understand a bit more about how differently the world can be understood given just your culture alone (read: its all arbitrary): http://www.amazon.com/Women-Dangerous-Things-George-Lakoff/d...

Lakoff's stuff is seriously mind-bending.

Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things by George Lakoff

http://www.amazon.com/Women-Dangerous-Things-George-Lakoff/d...