The string that threads the pearls together is, by contrast, smoother; one part of the string is like any other. If I take a knife to the string I get the same results depending on where I cut; indeed, any division of the string seems to yield smaller bits of string. String of length 1 can be divided, string of length 1/2 can be divided, of length 1/4, and so on, and we seem not to reach a level where we move from string to non-string, that is, to a place where a metaphysical shift occurs from continuous to discrete. Thus the ability to be divided indefinitely, or as we say, infinite divisibility, is central to the idea of smoothness here. Of course, strictly speaking, actual physical string is not absolutely continuous. Modern atomic theory tells us that in fact physical strings are composed of physical atoms, which are discrete entities, so eventually we will reach a point where we shift from string to something else. String is not absolutely continuous, but only relatively continuous, that is, it is smoother, less gappy, than the pearl strand. But this leads us to ask: Is any part of reality absolutely continuous?