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The closer we look at time, the stranger it gets

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Re: The closer we look at time, the stranger it gets

#41

Post by smokel »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #36
thom wrote: post #26

All of this should be familiar to the average programmer. The Creator (I call him Colin), rushed for time and bereft of more elegant ideas, has widely deployed lazy loading as a solution to the finite processing power of the universe. Almost all of physics (the speed of light, the expansion of space, quantum entanglement) is an answer to the question of how the universe (and indeed Colin himself) can avoid doing too…

I bet Colin gets annoyed every time we point a telescope at far away objects as he has to rush around behind the scenes and paint in all the details.

Wait until you hear how he performs garbage collection.

Re: The closer we look at time, the stranger it gets

#42

Post by gyomu »

MaxikCZ wrote: post #38
ChuckMcM wrote: post #14

This was perhaps my favorite part of Physics 390 ("modern physics") which was about quantum dynamics and relativity. The speed of light is defined in terms of a velocity (~300,000,000 m/s) but if you were traveling at the speed of light time stops (which keeps the rule that its constant in all frames of reference). That and time passes more quickly at higher altitudes and these days we can actually measure that. Wild…

The fact that at speed of light time stops is just so bonkers to me. A photon is, from its point of reference, at the point of creation and at the point of destination at the same "time". Its literally seeing both parts of the universe at the same time, and since its traveled some distance over that time it cannot perceive, its essentially connecting 2 points in spacetime. If I understand it correctly, every photon e…

> A photon is, from its point of reference, at the point of creation and at the point of destination at the same "time"

> every photon exists, from its point of view, for only infinitely small amount of time

Why is that amount “infinitely small” and not 0 since photons travel exactly at the speed of light?

Re: The closer we look at time, the stranger it gets

#43

Post by discomrobertul8 »

smokel wrote: post #41
ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet Colin gets annoyed every time we point a telescope at far away objects as he has to rush around behind the scenes and paint in all the details.

Wait until you hear how he performs garbage collection.

Noah's Automatic Reference Counter

Re: The closer we look at time, the stranger it gets

#48

Post by slyfox125 »

ricardobeat wrote: post #33
slyfox125 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know anything outside of your perception is true? All things boil down to a philosophical argument. The simplest answer is that "time" as we imagine it is a product of our interpretation and the true nature of "it" is hidden from us.

This is about time as it relates to our understanding of the physical world through science. You might as well say matter is an illusion, nether is relevant to this discussion.

You believe it is irrelevant - I believe it is relevant. I argue matter itself has more basis in reality in that it cannot be as easily explained away as time. In the context you're speaking in, there is much more evidence and logic to support the existence of matter. My point is that time as we believe it exists, is a construct that has meaning to us because of its benefit to our survival, rather than it being an objective reality.

Re: The closer we look at time, the stranger it gets

#49

Post by paganel »

hikingsimulator wrote: post #28
msuniverse2026 wrote: post #19

In Anthroposophy or Western occult science time runs in reverse in something we call the etheric body. The physical body on the other hand is something that experiences the world through organs that register only the present moment. It can't perceive what no longer physically exists or what has not yet manifested physically. The etheric is a time-body, containing the complete formative record of one's biography and i…

Given how "western occult science" is just magical thinking and pseudo babble, it hardly fits on HN. Additionally, "western occult science" typically glosses over its 1920-1940s roots and branches. Wondering why...

> magical thinking and pseudo babble, it hardly fits on HN

Don't ask Newton about the pseudo babble stuff. Nor the string "theorists". In fact, don't ask any of the "theoretical" physicists (an oxymoron by definition, which seems to be lost on almost all of them) about "magical thinking and pseudo babble".

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