- #1
kkapalk
- 16
- 0
I would just like a couple of opinions on a subject I read in Brian Greene's Fabric of the Cosmos. He states that all of time exists. Every event that has happened or will ever happen exists in its own time line. For instance while I write this at the age of forty two the event when I take my first steps as a toddler also exists, as does the event when I am a seventy year old sat in my rocking chair. What do other people on this site think of this? I am really fascinated by it. What I do find hard to accept is, how can I exist as a seventy year old when the events have not yet unfolded to allow this to be true?
One thing I do find very odd about time is the present, the tense which should be the most straight forward. I may seem a little confused here but this is how I see it: Every event in spacetime can be infinitely divided down when examined so none of it actually exists in the present. I do realize that events cannot last for any length of time otherwise they would just be repeating themselves. Obviously when, say, a footballer races across the pitch and scores a goal this event can be said to exist for a minute or so, but when examined each specific moment and each specific distance covered can be divided down infinitely. So at no time could we choose any particular moment and call it the present, because no matter how short a time and how small a distance we try to call 'the present', this moment or distance can be divided down into part past and part future. It seems to me the present is merely an illusion and all we have is past and future meeting at a point. There is definitely something odd going on in my view, I just cannot seem to work out what! Sorry if this seems confusing, any replies will help.
Kev
One thing I do find very odd about time is the present, the tense which should be the most straight forward. I may seem a little confused here but this is how I see it: Every event in spacetime can be infinitely divided down when examined so none of it actually exists in the present. I do realize that events cannot last for any length of time otherwise they would just be repeating themselves. Obviously when, say, a footballer races across the pitch and scores a goal this event can be said to exist for a minute or so, but when examined each specific moment and each specific distance covered can be divided down infinitely. So at no time could we choose any particular moment and call it the present, because no matter how short a time and how small a distance we try to call 'the present', this moment or distance can be divided down into part past and part future. It seems to me the present is merely an illusion and all we have is past and future meeting at a point. There is definitely something odd going on in my view, I just cannot seem to work out what! Sorry if this seems confusing, any replies will help.
Kev