Time in a Motionless World? - Share Your Opinion

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of time in a motionless world, exploring whether time exists independently of motion and change. Participants examine this idea from both philosophical and physical perspectives, considering implications in different frameworks such as Newtonian physics and general relativity.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that time is perceived through change, questioning if this perception is valid in a motionless context.
  • One participant proposes that as long as there is space, time exists, although it may be undetectable without matter.
  • A participant emphasizes the importance of defining "motionless" to address the question of time's existence in such a state.
  • Another participant contrasts Newtonian and general relativistic views on time, discussing the notion of universal time versus time as a coordinate in a block universe.
  • There is mention of differing interpretations of general relativity that challenge the block universe perspective, suggesting a more Newtonian interpretation of time.
  • Participants express uncertainty about whether the flow of time is a physical phenomenon or a subjective experience.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus; multiple competing views on the nature of time and its relationship to motion remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the dependence on different theoretical frameworks and the ambiguity surrounding the definitions of time and motion, which are not fully resolved.

Zeno's Paradox
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Is there the notion of time in a motionless world? I just feel time because things change. Is this a wrong idea? What's your opinion?
 
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I suspect that this might belong in Philosophy. My personal opinion is that as long as there's space, there's time. Matter isn't necessary, but of course there's no way to detect the passage of time without matter in some organized form.
 
Zeno's Paradox said:
Is there the notion of time in a motionless world? I just feel time because things change. Is this a wrong idea? What's your opinion?
Try to define the meaning of the word "motionless". Then you have the answer to your question.
 
Zeno's Paradox said:
Is there the notion of time in a motionless world? I just feel time because things change. Is this a wrong idea? What's your opinion?

It depends upon the paradigm in which you work. Clearly, we humans, have a "sense of change" which we call time. In a Newtonian view, this corresponds to some physically existing "universal time" out there: a kind of universally distributed "clock signal" which pervades the universe or something of the kind, so time (and especially its "flow") is a physical phenomenon.
However, in general relativity, this changes: time is just a coordinate, as is x,y, and z, from the PoV of an observer, over a "block universe" in 4 dimensions, which, itself, is timeless. In other words, past, present and future are all "equally real" and it is just the observer which travels on its own world line and experiences a certain slice of this 4-dim block world as his "now". And then, there are interpretations of general relativity which refuse this "block world" view too and tend to instore a more "Newtonian" view.
So in how much the "flow of time" is a physical phenomenon, or a subjective perception, is not clear.

The two visions have often affronted each other: the "dynamical" view (the time flow is a physical phenomenon) against the "geometrical" view (all times "exist" and we only subjectively wander through it)

Of course the *time parameter* is physical in many senses.
If you want to read about these notions, which are on the borderline of philosophical considerations and foundational physics, look at Zeh's book "Time".

https://www.amazon.com/dp/3540420819/?tag=pfamazon01-20
 

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