What is time??

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by Shadow1, Feb 5, 2011.

  1. Reiku Banned Banned

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    Surely to be seperated in time, you'd need to ascribe them with a past?

    That was the whole point though, past states are illusions in physics. The past and future don't exist, so I cannot see clearly why anyone might think events are distanced in time?
     
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  3. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    So how did you manage to "distance" your post from my one? Was it anything to do with the time I posted mine, then the time you posted yours, or was that all an illusion?
     
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  5. Reiku Banned Banned

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    Trick question.

    The time you made your post was the present time, just as the time now is the present time. The past does not exist.
     
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  7. Reiku Banned Banned

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    "The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion" - Albert Einstein
     
  8. river

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    17,307
    no

    what I'm saying is that any relation we understand between energy and matter is perspective based


    meaning that matter interacts amongst its self , regardless of any observer



    yes


    what would , and how does this particle observe though ?
     
  9. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    Ok, what perspective would you give an electron which is orbiting a nucleus?

    Would you say the nucleus is "observing" the electron's energy, or the electron is "observing" the nucleus's energy?
     
  10. river

    Messages:
    17,307

    above

    is the electron able to develop a theory ?
     
  11. river

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    my point is that time is an observational perspective between things and their interactions

    thats all time is

    to the objects our perspective doesn't mean anything

    is there a relation between objects ? of course

    but it is the objects that dictate the movement , not our perspective
     
  12. river

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    17,307

    that which it has


    electron is not observing

    the electron is reacting to the nucleous , physically
     
  13. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    7,832
    What exactly is an "observational perspective"?

    Is it: "that which it has" or can you do a little better than that?

    An electron is an observer, as far as the universe is concerned. But I doubt that you believe that or understand it. I doubt that you understand much of what you've been posting, you just make it up as you go, right?
     
  14. river

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    17,307



    any intelligent living beings observation of the movement of things

    directly above

    how ? how does an electron , which is a particle and/or wave become an observer ?


    I don't



    I have thought about time for a long time

    if you think that time is about the electron fine

    then what of the proton perspective ?
     
  15. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    7,832
    An electron observes other electrons, and any particles with charge. Electrons absorb and emit photons, which corresponds to observation.

    The universe does just fine without conscious observers with a "perspective". The relations between events, between particles, and between different levels of energy existed before we came along and noticed. Also, I didn't say time is about the electron, I said time is about relations between events.
     
  16. Reiku Banned Banned

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    11,238
    A particle as an observer is fine, but I don't see how it defines time either.
     
  17. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    A person as an observer is fine too. How does a person define time?
     
  18. Reiku Banned Banned

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    If you mean the object on the wall which we call the clock, then we invented it. Days, minutes seconds, all man made concepts.

    If one asks why we sense time, that is due to a gene called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus.
     
  19. river

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    17,307
    the measurement of the movement of things , mathematically

    a three dimensional grid

    with time being the fourth dimension because of the change of position of an object , anywhere on that grid , 360degrees
     
  20. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    19,252
    Please stop posting this nonsense.
    The suprachiasmatic nucleus is:
    A) not a gene and
    B) not (to what evidence we have) responsible for us "sensing time".
     
  21. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    Well, I for one am glad that's been cleared up.
     
  22. river

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    17,307
    anything else

    arfa , about time ?
     
  23. Reiku Banned Banned

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    11,238
    Have you read up on it?

    ''The circadian rhythm in the SCN is generated by a gene expression cycle in individual SCN neurons.''

    I mean, fairdo's, it's not directly a gene itself but is generated by gene expression cycles...

    Anyway,

    ''The neuronal and hormonal activities it generates regulate many different body functions in a 24-hour cycle, using around 20,000 neurons''

    ''Organisms in every kingdom of life—bacteria,[2] plants, fungi, and animals—show genetically-based 24-hour rhythms.''


    There are actually about several clocks in the human body. If this is not the regulation of our perception of time what is?

    ''Many aspects of mammalian behavior and physiology show circadian rhythmicity, including sleep, physical activity, alertness, hormone levels, body temperature, immune function, and digestive activity. All of these diverse rhythms are controlled by a single tiny brain area, the SCN, and are lost if the SCN is destroyed.''

    From the wiki article no less. It is the biological clock which gives us our sense of time. Even wiki's related articles which can be read is

    See alsoChronobiology
    Photosensitive ganglion cell
    (Sense of time)

    It's quite clear the author even there is likening the SCN to the sense of time as well. In fact, the first time I heard about the SCN was from Michio Kaku who said it regulated our sense of time and that we had about seven internal biological clocks. Our sense of time is one of them.
     

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