Our notation isn’t clear about when a symbol stands for a physical model in real detail, and when the notation is a system of “meaningless signs.”
				Suppose the analogy between “symbol with context” and “symbol stripped of context” is perfect.  Then the distinction doesn’t matter.
		People often assume that the analogy is perfect, and that the distinction doesn’t matter.
	But if we’re trying to check the transition between concrete circumstance, and abstract math model, we do have to notice that there is a distinction, and attend to that distinction.