The Error of Conflating the Potential with the Actual

The error in conflating a potential with an actual is a common one. Examples include:

• Zeno’s paradox—that man can infinitely divide the line is treated as meaning that the line is infinitely divided;
• Cartesian doubt—that man can make an error is treated as meaning that he has made one;
• #todo

The issue with this view is simply that the capacity of A to act in some manner X under some set of circumstances Y, does not imply that A is doing X—every entity has only one action available to it at any given time, so if the circumstances are not Y, then A would not necessarily be doing X. That an acorn has the potential to become a tree does not mean that the acorn is a tree; that a rock has the potential to fall down a hill does not mean that it is falling down a hill; and that a man has the potential to do wrong does not mean that man is wrong as such.