[svara]

We do speak of dynamic phenomena as "existing" all the time.

A river is made up of different water molecules every day, yet it's the same river over millennia.

In the same way, countries (and other abstract entities such as companies) exist in the dynamics of human interactions.

So yes, humans must perpetuate the concept by re-telling it, but somewhat paradoxically it's not a lie as long as they do so.

[drewcoo]

> A river is made up of different water molecules every day, yet it's the same river over millennia.

Heraclitus would like a word with you.

[didericis]

And Parmenides would like a word with you.

It’s amazing to me people agree on definitions for anything, given people have been having the same basic abstract arguments for what makes thing A thing A and distinct from thing B for thousands of years.

[svara]

My argument was in some sense more shallow, I just made a point about how we talk about things.

You can open a map and find that a river has a name, that's true no matter your stance on what it "really is".