- #1
Rishabh Narula
- 61
- 5
please tell me if I'm correctly understanding what Newton was trying to say about
time being absolute.did he mean that it doesn't matter whether or not you have
a clock(which could be any repetetive phenomena)
or how that clock is moving,
time exists independently of all observation.(that's how I am interpreting
what he said)
that is even if there was'nt any clock(repetetive phenomena) time is still
passing...its just that we can't observe it.
of course i am aware that this whole thing about absolute time is incorrect and was
corrected in theory of relativity,
could it also be that saying time exists without observation is because in our
brains chemical or electrical processes are always changing giving us thoughts
and a sesnse of time passing.i.e that our brains are also kind of clocks.
and thus even in empty space its just our brains giving us a notion of time
passing.time doesn't exist in empty space,since nothing is changing and change is time.
Am I grasping it right?if not,correct me anyways.:3
the para I am reffering to- from a book on mechanics
Absolute, true and mathematical time, of itself and by its own
true nature, flows uniformly on, without regard to anything external. Relative, apparent and common time is some sensible and external measure
of absolute time estimated by the motions of bodies, whether accurate or
inequable, and is commonly employed in place of true time; as an hour,
a day, a month, a year.
Mach commented “it would appear as though Newton in the remarks
cited here still stood under the influence of medieval philosophy, as
though he had grown unfaithful to his resolve to investigate only actual
facts.” Mach went on to point out that since time is necessarily measured by the repetitive motion of some physical system, for instance
the pendulum of a clock or the revolution of the Earth about the Sun,
then the properties of time must be connected with the laws that describe the motions of physical systems. Simply put, Newton’s idea of
time without clocks is metaphysical; to understand the properties of time
we must observe the properties of clocks.
time being absolute.did he mean that it doesn't matter whether or not you have
a clock(which could be any repetetive phenomena)
or how that clock is moving,
time exists independently of all observation.(that's how I am interpreting
what he said)
that is even if there was'nt any clock(repetetive phenomena) time is still
passing...its just that we can't observe it.
of course i am aware that this whole thing about absolute time is incorrect and was
corrected in theory of relativity,
could it also be that saying time exists without observation is because in our
brains chemical or electrical processes are always changing giving us thoughts
and a sesnse of time passing.i.e that our brains are also kind of clocks.
and thus even in empty space its just our brains giving us a notion of time
passing.time doesn't exist in empty space,since nothing is changing and change is time.
Am I grasping it right?if not,correct me anyways.:3
the para I am reffering to- from a book on mechanics
Absolute, true and mathematical time, of itself and by its own
true nature, flows uniformly on, without regard to anything external. Relative, apparent and common time is some sensible and external measure
of absolute time estimated by the motions of bodies, whether accurate or
inequable, and is commonly employed in place of true time; as an hour,
a day, a month, a year.
Mach commented “it would appear as though Newton in the remarks
cited here still stood under the influence of medieval philosophy, as
though he had grown unfaithful to his resolve to investigate only actual
facts.” Mach went on to point out that since time is necessarily measured by the repetitive motion of some physical system, for instance
the pendulum of a clock or the revolution of the Earth about the Sun,
then the properties of time must be connected with the laws that describe the motions of physical systems. Simply put, Newton’s idea of
time without clocks is metaphysical; to understand the properties of time
we must observe the properties of clocks.