An example of anthropomorphic language in writing about science:
"In fact, the total mass of a molecule is somewhat less than the sum of the masses of its component atoms. This difference – the mass defect – goes into the binding energy of the atoms in the molecule and is therefore of paramount theoretical importance although it is not detectable in the chemical laboratory, the scales of which are insufficiently sensitive for this purpose. If atomic masses were strictly additive there would be be no stable compounds: every combination would result from a chance encounter of indifferent atoms and would therefore be unstable; as it is, there are binding forces to which binding energies correspond.
Mario Bunge
Bunge, M. (2017/1998). Philosophy of Science. Volume 2: From explanation to justification (Revised ed.). Routledge.
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