|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 2:57:20 GMT -5
Post by The Wanderer on Dec 5, 2003 2:57:20 GMT -5
Just thought I'd pose a rather straightforward question: What is your view on the nature of time? Do you think it's cyclic, it's linear, or is it merely a human construct?
Myself, I believe time to be cyclic...more on this later. It do be getting rather late...
|
|
Eskimo
Big Gulp
cast in the name of god
Posts: 230
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 10:43:13 GMT -5
Post by Eskimo on Dec 5, 2003 10:43:13 GMT -5
I think time is a human construct to measure change. Other than that, it doesn't exist; you can't go back or forward in time. Things change, stop changing, change again and we say "It took this long for it to happen" or "It happened this long ago".
so I suppose you could say I believe in linear time. but not really.
|
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 12:15:44 GMT -5
Post by Liek on Dec 5, 2003 12:15:44 GMT -5
My brother was telling me about how his Calc. Professor doesn't believe in time. Just "duration." I guess that makes sense, in a mathamatics persceptive. Duration being the fourth dimension (after length, width, and depth.)
I think that we just invented a measurement of time just so we could record things and not be late. Or something like that.
I don't see how it could by cyclical. I await your opinion/explanation, Loki.
Another thing... you said it's "late" in your post at 3 in the morning... but perhaps its early... think about it...
|
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 15:07:07 GMT -5
Post by The Wanderer on Dec 5, 2003 15:07:07 GMT -5
I believe that time is an actual, um...thing in this universe. I believe it is malleable and is not just a matter of measuring the lengths of events. I've read enough books about this kind of thing that I feel I am quite knowledgable on the topic. We can use time to our advantage in traversing space. It is indeed the fourth dimension. Just as space can be warped, so can time. Therefore, it is not merely a construct of humanity, it is a universal reality.
Also, as the Greeks did, I believe time to be cyclic. There is no beginning or end to time. At some point, reality will "start over" and the events will be re-played, however the influence of chaos and choice changes these events, if even slightly. Reality was never created and it will never end. This also ties into my belief in a form of reincarnation.
If you know anything about Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time," you'll get the basic idea of what I'm saying.
|
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 15:31:37 GMT -5
Post by Liek on Dec 5, 2003 15:31:37 GMT -5
Just as space can be warped, so can time. Well, that time machine in my basement still doesn't work. But if time could be altered, what would happen if someone did? Would everybody feel the effects? Or would nobody notice, even the people doing it? |
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 15:43:08 GMT -5
Post by The Wanderer on Dec 5, 2003 15:43:08 GMT -5
But if time could be altered, what would happen if someone did? Would everybody feel the effects? Or would nobody notice, even the people doing it? Time is altered by choice. Time is not just a measure of duration, it is the driving force of all reality. We feel the effects of it being warped every moment of every day: it's called living. |
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 15:58:51 GMT -5
Post by Dirk the Canary on Dec 5, 2003 15:58:51 GMT -5
Time is altered by choice. Time is not just a measure of duration, it is the driving force of all reality. We feel the effects of it being warped every moment of every day: it's called living. way to go, captain shmaltz, for that giant pile of bull filth. time is nothing. time travel, although amusing to read about in comic books, is impossible, because if you went back in time to kill hitler, then hitler would never have done the bad stuff that prompted you to go back and kill him in the first place. the whole idea is impossible......except for me.....heh heh heh |
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 16:02:38 GMT -5
Post by The Wanderer on Dec 5, 2003 16:02:38 GMT -5
way to go, captain shmaltz, for that giant pile of bull filth. time is nothing. time travel, although amusing to read about in comic books, is impossible, because if you went back in time to kill hitler, then hitler would never have done the bad stuff that prompted you to go back and kill him in the first place. the whole idea is impossible......except for me.....heh heh heh No crap! But, notice, you only spoke of going back in time. Time travel to the past is full of paradoxes and is damn near fundamentally impossible. Time travel to the future, on the other hand is one-hundred percent, irrefutably possible. No if's and's or but's about it. It is a scientific fact. Now that I think about it, I wasn't even really talking about time travel.... |
|
Eskimo
Big Gulp
cast in the name of god
Posts: 230
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 19:51:50 GMT -5
Post by Eskimo on Dec 5, 2003 19:51:50 GMT -5
nothing is irrefutable. Any theory can be overturned by some other theory; it just depends on who you believe.
|
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 21:28:44 GMT -5
Post by Dirk the Canary on Dec 5, 2003 21:28:44 GMT -5
No crap! But, notice, you only spoke of going back in time. Time travel to the past is full of paradoxes and is damn near fundamentally impossible. Time travel to the future, on the other hand is one-hundred percent, irrefutably possible. No if's and's or but's about it. It is a scientific fact. Now that I think about it, I wasn't even really talking about time travel.... time travel to the future? possible? say wha-?! the only way you can "time travel" to the future is to wait around a really long time for it to come to you and then its not really time travel as much as uberpatience. time isnt cyclic........i will not eventually be sitting here again saying "time is not cyclic"..........this is not some hypergalatic merry-go-round. im mo' have to side with the "time does not exist"'ers |
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 5, 2003 21:35:45 GMT -5
Post by Wilshire on Dec 5, 2003 21:35:45 GMT -5
Time is just what we call the concept of duration. It exists in that sense. But its hard to pinpoint it outside of that context because we don't know when the beginning of time was, or when its end will be, we just measure it in relation to ourselves. So its a relative concept, but hard to say whether "time" really exists as we sasy it does.
|
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 6, 2003 0:04:57 GMT -5
Post by William on Dec 6, 2003 0:04:57 GMT -5
i think time is the action and being of existance...meaning, that existance is the act of duration, having existed for more than two consecutive points with a distance of 'time' between them...and this time, is the concept and frame of this measurment of duration and existance...
|
|
|
|
Time?
Dec 6, 2003 1:09:50 GMT -5
Post by The Wanderer on Dec 6, 2003 1:09:50 GMT -5
time travel to the future? possible? say wha-?! the only way you can "time travel" to the future is to wait around a really long time for it to come to you and then its not really time travel as much as uberpatience. time isnt cyclic........i will not eventually be sitting here again saying "time is not cyclic"..........this is not some hypergalatic merry-go-round. im mo' have to side with the "time does not exist"'ers Whatever, I'll show you my proof, in print, sometime in the future... Future, see. Funny. Fine, but think about it: the end of all existence. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Existence is the one and only absolute truth in this universe. Nothing else can be guarunteed. I believe that it will never end. Just as there are an infinite amount of numbers in mathematics, so is there an infinite number of incarnations of reality. Also, just to annoy anyone else, I'll also say that I believe that there are an infinite number of universes, representing each different path of choices made. Alternate dimensions of reality, time travel, and parallel universes are fun indeed... |
|
Eskimo
Big Gulp
cast in the name of god
Posts: 230
|
Time?
Dec 6, 2003 11:55:08 GMT -5
Post by Eskimo on Dec 6, 2003 11:55:08 GMT -5
Loki:
to your 1st point: no one can even prove or define 'existence' (based, i should think, mainly on our current philosophy and language; they are simply inadequate to the task). if we can prove existence, then it most certainly is not the singular truth of the universe. For as surely as I exist, then so also do my thoughts exist and now we have stepped into the realm of not just existence but philosophy, anatomy, education, society, religion (for these last three are what frame my thoughts) and biology. Certainly, you must acknowledge that the importance and meaning of the countless number of things that brought you to your understanding of existence and the universe extend past a mere existence!
|
|
Eskimo
Big Gulp
cast in the name of god
Posts: 230
|
Time?
Dec 6, 2003 11:58:35 GMT -5
Post by Eskimo on Dec 6, 2003 11:58:35 GMT -5
annnd to your second point, now that I think of it: I have heard this theory before (in a Dilbert book, no less). interesting concept, but there is *no way* to prove or disprove it, unfortunately. unless you also believe in affirmations (i.e., you can in some way control the flow of these 'possible universes'), in which case, let me know how it's going.
|
|
