Comments on: Is time an Illusion?

By: VelociraptorBlade

VelociraptorBlade — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:15:26 +0000

I perceive time to be another dimension of the universe, and I perceive dimensions to be nothing more than different aspects of the same universe. Think of it as a multi -faceted 3-dimensional polygon. Each side shows part of the universe, but not the whole. These sides, “dimensions” help us measure the thing, like a ruler, but they do not exist of themselves, they need an sufficiently intelligent mind to be seen and realized. In that sense, they are illusions.

To sum it up: Does the measurement of time exist? Yes. Does time ITSELF exist? No.

By: Jeff-Wash

Jeff-Wash — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:02:06 +0000

Hey!
If you want to accomplish more in a short period of time, start running real fast.
Like 30 meters a second wont quite do it.
Not 300 meters per second.
300 kilometers per second? Hmmmm still too slow.
You got to put your running shoes on.
Try 30,000 kilometers per second.
NOW you start to get more done in a short period of time

By: TB

TB — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:41:29 +0000

“I believe we experience time in much the same way, as ratios rather than intervals. For a five year old, a Christmas six months away is forever in the far distant future, one tenth of his life. For his half-century old grandfather, its only one percent of his life; practically the day after tomorrow.”

I’ve heard this theory before, and it makes a lot of sense.

By: ER

ER — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:49:48 +0000

It’s not really surprising that our perception of time is non-linear. In many of our sensory activities, we tend to perceive constant RATIOS of intensity as constant INTERVALS of intensity. A first magnitude star is approximately 2.5 times as bright as a second magnitude star. The brightest stars we see appear about a five times brighter than the faintest, actually, they are about a hundred times (2.5**5) brighter. A similar logarithmic or exponential (actually, its a power law, to be mathematically precise) scale rules our perception of sound.

This is a very useful characteristic for a detector which must function over an enormous range of stimuli; we can function by starlight, see pretty well in moonlight and clearly in sunlight, but the latter is millions of times brighter than the first. Although many mechanical detectors are more sensitive than human biological sensors, none, as far as I know, even comes close to operating efficiently over such a wide range of intensities.

I believe we experience time in much the same way, as ratios rather than intervals. For a five year old, a Christmas six months away is forever in the far distant future, one tenth of his life. For his half-century old grandfather, its only one percent of his life; practically the day after tomorrow.

However, I also believe this subjective effect is variable depending on the time resolution being considered, and the perspective. A boring day seems to last forever, a boring year may, in retrospect, be over in a flash.

If I knew I had a very good chance of living several thousand years, a space voyage of decades or even a century would be well worth it.

By: Eri

Eri — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:30:14 +0000

Thanks! I’ll see if I can catch it.

By: Eri

Eri — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:29:04 +0000

That is lovely!

By: TB

TB — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:47:05 +0000

And yet atoms decay, light moves, entropy grows, and next month’s bills must be paid.

By: FrankC

FrankC — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:00:41 +0000

Yes, that’s it. (and nicely done)

To paraphrase one of the cosmologist, think of an infinite photo album page that we perceive as a film in order for it to make sense.

Now all we have to do is figure out why it needs to make sense or why it needs to be sequential to make sense or what governs what makes sense in the first place.

By: podrock

podrock — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:59:40 +0000

"Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time."

[youtube]MUt7qmSvxLI[/youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUt7qmSvxLI

By: ER

ER — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:53:10 +0000

The Independent Variable
by Elisee Reclus

There is no past and there is no future.
One is but a memory, the other just a dream.
All we really know is an eternal present,
suspended between regret and anticipation.

You cannot choose to travel to the past
or refuse to move into the future.
The first is the map of a vanished city.
The other, the score of an unplayed symphony.

All we’ll ever have is the infinite Now.
And all else is the convenient illusion
of an imaginary journey
to an unknown destination.

We cannot plan unless we remember,
nor can we recognize what we see
if it is unlike all we have ever known.
So we create this illusion of passing time.

What is gone was once the now,
as will be what comes to pass.
One was, the other will be,
the never-ending moment

Past and future do not exist,
Everything happens at once.
Time is just a number we’ve invented
to predict the paths of moving objects.