Wiseman, you say rather dismissively that, yes, “according to a specific theory” the particles are identical. But that’s already a huge deal! For me the point is that, before quantum mechanics, no one had even imagined a theoretical framework that could force two particles to be identical in all respects. (If you don’t understand how QM actually does this, reread Eliezer’s posts.) Obviously, if QM were overthrown then we’d have to revisit all these questions—but even the fact that a framework like QM is possible represents a major philosophical discovery that came to us by way of physics.
Wiseman, you say rather dismissively that, yes, “according to a specific theory” the particles are identical. But that’s already a huge deal! For me the point is that, before quantum mechanics, no one had even imagined a theoretical framework that could force two particles to be identical in all respects. (If you don’t understand how QM actually does this, reread Eliezer’s posts.) Obviously, if QM were overthrown then we’d have to revisit all these questions—but even the fact that a framework like QM is possible represents a major philosophical discovery that came to us by way of physics.