ust
&gt; part of what we know about things like large heaps, part of what we
&gt; know about the world; it is kind of obvious. The fact that one can
&gt; derive a contradiction when this obvious thing is formalized suggests
&gt; to me that there is something wrong with the formalization, not that
&gt; there is anything wrong with the intuitions.
&gt; 
   Yes, yes.  The intuition is correct, but it is correct only because 
it is true of a *single* instance of removal of a grain from a heap,
and multiple iter