Does the Block Universe Theory Suggest Time and Motion Are Illusions?

[enquirealways]

Does block universe mean that time and motion are illusions?

 

[phinds]

Uh ... I'll bet you moved between the time you started that sentence and the time you finished it, now didn't you.

 

[enquirealways]

Uh ... I'll bet you moved between the time you started that sentence and the time you finished it, now didn't you.

Well, can't all the activity be an illusion. Our universe could be a huge pile of time capsules.

 

[Nugatory]

Well, can't all the activity be an illusion. Our universe could be a huge pile of time capsules.

Yes, but no experiment can even in principle distinguish between that model of the universe and one in which time and motion are not illusions. Thus, the discussion tends to be sterile: it might be so, it might not be, we can't tell which it is and it doesn't make any difference either way.

It doesn't yield falsifiable predictions so it's not science, and the moderators generally shut down discussions of block universe if they don't stop at this point on their own.

 

[enquirealways]

Yes, but no experiment can even in principle distinguish between that model of the universe and one in which time and motion are not illusions. Thus, the discussion tends to be sterile: it might be so, it might not be, we can't tell which it is and it doesn't make any difference either way.

It doesn't yield falsifiable predictions so it's not science, and the moderators generally shut down discussions of block universe if they don't stop at this point on their own.

Why not send it to beyond the standard model.

 

[Nugatory]

Why not send it to beyond the standard model.

That's for "discussion of the scientific content of well-researched models of physics beyond the Standard Model [of elementary particle physics]", to quote the forum stickies. Block universe speculation fails on the grounds of not being well-researched, not being a model of physics, and not being about particle physics.

 

[mfb]

"Block universe" is just another description of exactly the same thing. This is not a physics question, it's more like "what is your favorite color?" - it is pointless to discuss that, so I closed the thread.