Originally posted by russ_watters
(SNIP...sorta...)[/color] Well, then maybe we do need to define what "physical" or "physically real" means. Because obviously whether time is or isn't follows directly from the definition. O.K. "physical" is tangible, having mass/shape/and longevity of existence...[/color]
You appear to be defining "physical" as having dimensions in space (length, width, height). By that definition, its axiomatic that time isn't a physical dimension.
The dictionary is not that specific:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=physical
1. Of or pertaining to nature (as including all created existences); in accordance with the laws of nature
2. Of or pertaining to physics, or natural philosophy; treating of, or relating to, the causes and connections of natural phenomena
Humm, you state that the dictionary is "NOT that specific", then state that by these definitions "time is physically real" but NOTHING in
those definitions says that! [/color]
Clearly by these definitions, time is physically real: Time is something we can observe, measure, and
experience (Only as an "Idea" not as a 'physical' {Tangible} phenmenon)[/color] in the physical universe (nature in the first definition). And time is a connection between natural phenomena that pertains to the the laws of physics (second definition). Ironic choice of example - by definition, what lies inside of a black hole's event horizon is not a part of the physical unverse. All we THINK we know about the inside of a black hole is from data collected outside the event horizon. This is of course because scientists and engineers all agree (implicitly) to a set of rules and definitions as a starting point for all discussions. The terms don't have to be defined at the start of a conversation because they've already been accepted. Its a lot like learning a language really. (SNoP)[/color]
Humm, O.K.(?) (why are you telling me this?) you mean like the 'outside' observation of the fact that light does not escape from the interior of what would otherwise surely be emitting light, (as evidenced by all of the energetic activity in the immediate area) from whence we draw the conclusion that the escape velocity must exceed lightspeed...you have a problem with this kind on logic/knowledge@work?[/color]