It seems to me -- as neither a physicist or a philosopher -- that the question posed, "But is there any way we can know that the two electrons are really, truly, entirely indistinguishable?," necessarily assumes that they are independently and individually real. And since you're saying they are not, it seems to me that you're asking Bob an unfair question.
Behold, I present to you a band named Frack Fiddlers. And the question posed is: "is there any way we can know what brand of guitar strings the Frack Fiddlers use?" Well, you give me various methods to be able to tell the brand of the strings. "Aha!," I counter, "you may be wise in metallurgy/philosophy/science, but not in music! No such band as Frack Fiddlers exists!"
While the concept of configurations is quite interesting to me, the fall you set up for Bob is not.
It seems to me -- as neither a physicist or a philosopher -- that the question posed, "But is there any way we can know that the two electrons are really, truly, entirely indistinguishable?," necessarily assumes that they are independently and individually real. And since you're saying they are not, it seems to me that you're asking Bob an unfair question.
Behold, I present to you a band named Frack Fiddlers. And the question posed is: "is there any way we can know what brand of guitar strings the Frack Fiddlers use?" Well, you give me various methods to be able to tell the brand of the strings. "Aha!," I counter, "you may be wise in metallurgy/philosophy/science, but not in music! No such band as Frack Fiddlers exists!"
While the concept of configurations is quite interesting to me, the fall you set up for Bob is not.