>>24289033
>"Fewer" = a smaller number of a countable, individuated (thing)
So with the emissions example, there are emissions coming from a variety of countable, individuated sources. For example, each car generates its own emissions, each oil refinery generates its own emissions. We can assign responsibility to each generator of emissions and hold them accountable for the amount of emissions that they generate. For example, Acme Oil Refinery generated x emissions every week for a year.

>"Less" = a smaller amount of a collective, non individuated (thing)
If we said less in the context of emissions, it would refer to a specific compound or something that we're looking at as part of a collective. For example, we could say that we want less benzene being emitted. If there is a specific amount of acceptable benzene that we can allow in the air, we can say that we want less benzene in the air. Or fewer benzene particles.

I think it's almost more about referring to plural vs singular. "We want fewer emissions so that there will be less benzene in the air." Or "We want oil refineries to generate less emission so that there will be fewer benzene particles in the air."

idk man the more i'm typing it out the more i'm getting confused on the necessity of this device. However, I think it's really just about signaling that you are referring to something as a plurality vs an individuated thing.

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Why is it "fewer emissions"? I think this sounds very stupid. It should be "less emissions". This goes not just for…