Comments on: TIME

By: M. Simon

M. Simon — Sun, 31 May 2009 07:30:36 +0000

Time is in fact real. Ask anyone familiar with statistical thermodynamics.

Ah. I see your problem. You don’t know anyone familiar with statistical thermodynamics. Pity.

By: Stephen R

Stephen R — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:53:13 +0000

Bill –

This is unusually Den-Beste-y for you. I like it!

I don’t know how much science fiction you read, but in the vein of this post I would recommend a novel called “The Light of Other Days”, by Arthur C Clarke and Ste(v/ph)en Baxter.

By: Level_Head

Level_Head — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:08:14 +0000

I’ve just watched, and tremendously enjoyed, your commentary on John Stewart and the use of nuclear weapons. Bravo!

Heinlein was mentioned by a writer above, but there’s one of his stories with a much better connection here: Where you have a march though jello. Robert Heinlein used “a long pink worm” extending through time.

I think you’ll enjoy (and feel a connection with) the grand master of science fiction’s very first published short story. It’s online and free here:

http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743471598/0743471598___2.htm

Best wishes!

===|==============/ Level Head

By: IB Bill

IB Bill — Sat, 02 May 2009 21:22:22 +0000

Thread is over, but I thought I’d chime in my two cents. Many years ago, I had something of a mystical experience wherein, for a brief moment, I had a vision that showed me that time is an illusion and is a function of space. I couldn’t explain in afterward and soon didn’t understand it myself… the only remnant of that experience is when people say things like Bill did, I get it. Time is a function of space. He explained it better. Very weird, though, that this came up.

Anyway, thanks, Bill.

By: MLP

MLP — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:23:12 +0000

I have always believed that change (growth) is proof that the passage of time is real. We travel not “through” time, but with it. That’s why we can’t go back to the past. Time is no longer there. The fact that no one has traveled to the past yet is proof that no one ever will.
I love this stuff.

By: perplexedenglish

perplexedenglish — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:16:28 +0000

Tony R you’ve really made me upset now, I was getting serious and philosophical and was about to make some profound meaningful comment but now….all I can think about is Jacqui…oh Jacqui whwre are you now?

By: Professor Guvinoff

Professor Guvinoff — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:40:37 +0000

25. ninjafetus:

Really? I’d say the existence of distinct objects or events is fairly independent of human interpretation.

How would you know? You contest my point and prove it at the same time.

Imagine a brave math teacher earnestly trying to explain the negative numbers to a classroom, when suddenly, one of the kids objects vociferously: “When I grow up, I will be a farmer, and when I am a farmer, I will not bother to have three cows fewer than none!”

Like the rest of us, this child has internalized the culture, to a point. If negative numbers are not as natural as cows, in which way are the natural numbers really natural?

By: Presbypoet

Presbypoet — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:20:33 +0000

We are finite, contemplating infinity. No wonder we have trouble. Einstein had it wrong you know. He said “God doesn’t play dice with the universe”. Not only does God play dice, he plays with loaded dice.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle explains you can never have enough information to know the future.

Uncertainty is built into creation. God designed a universe with free will. Yet is intimately involved with everything. To understand reality, grok both theology and quantum mechanics. Both consist of paradoxes. For example, an electron is 100% particle and 100% wave. Not 50 – 50, but 100 – 100. Have Communion every day, and once a month.

Time is relative, depending on where you are. Speed, gravity, each can slow down time. Near a black hole, space becomes more time-like, and time becomes more space-like.

Regarding cats knowing time. Bill, I am staff to a cat. He is quite aware of time. He knows when I should get up. If I lie abed too late, he pushes objects off the dresser. One afternoon, he insisted he was hungry, (too early). I told him, “Not now”, and said I would feed him when my son called from the train to be picked up. An hour later the phone rang, it was my son. As I hung up, the cat said “Now?” He knows time, and English.

By: Cain

Cain — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:01:15 +0000

Cinco de Mayo? No meaning? ¡Ay, caramba!!!

By: David M

David M — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:01:22 +0000

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 04/28/2009 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.