Something to consider in the context of "repetition", is that it requires abstraction, and possibly memory. As noted before, I do not see any kind of repetition (identical things, counting) in nature. I think abstraction and memory are both emergent properties from human brains (or machines, brains in other mammals, octopuses, etc.) My pet theory also initially discards "things", because that again requires abstraction.
For reference, my views are somewhat related to "emergentism", "connectionism", and "realism", but I haven't found a school of philosophy that I feel comfortable with.
> how could you even study this?
This is indeed the biggest challenge. I am currently studying this from a conceptual art perspective, because philosophy and science do not seem adequately equipped for this kind of problem.
For reference, my views are somewhat related to "emergentism", "connectionism", and "realism", but I haven't found a school of philosophy that I feel comfortable with.
> how could you even study this?
This is indeed the biggest challenge. I am currently studying this from a conceptual art perspective, because philosophy and science do not seem adequately equipped for this kind of problem.