In fact, Whitehead describes any entity as in some sense nothing more and nothing less than the sum of its relations to other entities – its synthesis of and reaction to the world around it. A real thing is just that which forces the rest of the universe to in some way conform to it; that is to say, if theoretically a thing made strictly no difference to any other entity (i.e. it was not related to any other entity), it could not be said to really exist. Relations are not secondary to what a thing is, they are what the thing is.
How does Whitehead characterize anything that exists? How does he describe what makes something real? In Whitehead's thinking, what could be said about something that has no effect on any other person or object? What did Whitehead believe about the concept of relations in the context of defining an entity? Whitehead believes any entity is in some sense what? If an object made no difference to any other entity, what could be said about it? If relations are not secondary to what a thing is, what is it? What makes up the sum of relations to an entity? A real object forces the universe to do what?