Nightlover13
Temporal Novice
The Theory of the \'NOW\'
The following is written from only my perspective of what I've read, watched and speculated. These are only my thoughts and do not reflect on others people ideas or the actual realities of the universe
Time is a measurement created by man to help understand things around him. Our perceptions are primarily made of a beginning, a middle and an end; (we are born, we live and we die). This comes from our consciousness, memory and intelligence. We remember what happened before "Now" and we know that things will happen after "Now"
If you look at the universe as always being in a constant state of "NOW", the 'past' is a string of former 'Nows'; and the 'future' is a string of 'Nows' yet to occur.
The only reason we perceive a past is that we store our experiences of previous 'Nows' in our memory. Because of our level of intelligence and ability to try to explain and understand things around us, we 'know' there are events yet to come. To keep it all in perspective, we measure the previous 'Nows' to our current 'Now'. Thus we have the concept of 'time'.
Can we move from one 'Now' to another 'Now'(regardless if it's a previous 'Now' or future 'Now')?
If everything is a 'Now';, then to what or where would you be moving to?
The measurement of time is a man-made tool. The measurement is constant only when all observed objects are moving at the same speed in space (regardless if your on the Earth or not) If there is a fluctuation in your speed, then your personal time seems to speeds up or slows down, in comparison to someone else who is moving at a slower or faster speed through space than you.
If you are moving faster in space than someone else, then to them you are aging slower than them; and to you , they are aging faster than you. But, each person sees themselves as aging at the same rate as they normally do. That is the basis of Einstein's theory of Relativity. Time's rate of passage is relative to the observer. As in the above scenario, each observer feels their 'personal time' is unaltered or moving at the same rate as it normally would. They perceive the other person as having an accelerated or decelerated aging process.
So if we look at time as a series of 'Nows' and the passage of time is not constant, but relative to the observer, then is the concept of 'time travel' only that; a concept?
Centuries ago, people 'perceived' their world as a flat land mass, surrounded by bodies of water, jungles, forests and/or deserts, that dipped away to nothingness in the horizon. It was easy to come to that conclusion with the knowledge and understanding of the time. So is it with the concept of 'time';. We observe starts and finishes. Our whole life is made up of beginnings and endings; from the day we are born to the day we die. Romanticism, being part of our nature, with its concept of 'What if?' and 'I hope that'; which perpetuates our wish of going back in time and changing aspects of our 'past'; or wanting to know what is in store for us in the upcoming 'future'.
The concept of 'time', to the majority of people, is the same as the concept of a 'flat earth' was to our ancestors. We understand it based on our observations and experiences, but it doesn't mean we totally understand it at all. Even scientific explanations and experiments only scratch the surface of what 'time' really is or isn't.
It's hard to comprehend that there maybe no real 'past' or 'future', but only a 'former Now'; and a 'Now yet to happen';. Though it may seem a fine line in definition, then the best way to sum it up is "everything that was, is and will be all occur in the 'Now'".
Think of an Etch-A-Sketch. The toy itself being the 'Now', but the pictures that are drawn on it by a child as our concept of past, present and future. Once the toy is turned over and the picture is gone, its gone, never to come back again. The picture lives on in the child's memory, but the picture itself no longer exists in the 'Now'. The memory of the picture is our concept the 'past'. The current blank screen is our concept of the 'present'; and any further pictures drawn on it is our concept of the 'future'.
Science fiction perpetuates concepts that are 'currently' more romantic than factual. Space ships moving faster than the speed of light, scrambling our molecules and projecting them over vast distances (transporters) or time travel are great devices used many times to help in a plot. It's great for the story and our enjoyment of it, but can any or all of it really happen? Only time will tell
*This is my first post...so please be kind /ttiforum/images/graemlins/smile.gif*
Night
The following is written from only my perspective of what I've read, watched and speculated. These are only my thoughts and do not reflect on others people ideas or the actual realities of the universe
Time is a measurement created by man to help understand things around him. Our perceptions are primarily made of a beginning, a middle and an end; (we are born, we live and we die). This comes from our consciousness, memory and intelligence. We remember what happened before "Now" and we know that things will happen after "Now"
If you look at the universe as always being in a constant state of "NOW", the 'past' is a string of former 'Nows'; and the 'future' is a string of 'Nows' yet to occur.
The only reason we perceive a past is that we store our experiences of previous 'Nows' in our memory. Because of our level of intelligence and ability to try to explain and understand things around us, we 'know' there are events yet to come. To keep it all in perspective, we measure the previous 'Nows' to our current 'Now'. Thus we have the concept of 'time'.
Can we move from one 'Now' to another 'Now'(regardless if it's a previous 'Now' or future 'Now')?
If everything is a 'Now';, then to what or where would you be moving to?
The measurement of time is a man-made tool. The measurement is constant only when all observed objects are moving at the same speed in space (regardless if your on the Earth or not) If there is a fluctuation in your speed, then your personal time seems to speeds up or slows down, in comparison to someone else who is moving at a slower or faster speed through space than you.
If you are moving faster in space than someone else, then to them you are aging slower than them; and to you , they are aging faster than you. But, each person sees themselves as aging at the same rate as they normally do. That is the basis of Einstein's theory of Relativity. Time's rate of passage is relative to the observer. As in the above scenario, each observer feels their 'personal time' is unaltered or moving at the same rate as it normally would. They perceive the other person as having an accelerated or decelerated aging process.
So if we look at time as a series of 'Nows' and the passage of time is not constant, but relative to the observer, then is the concept of 'time travel' only that; a concept?
Centuries ago, people 'perceived' their world as a flat land mass, surrounded by bodies of water, jungles, forests and/or deserts, that dipped away to nothingness in the horizon. It was easy to come to that conclusion with the knowledge and understanding of the time. So is it with the concept of 'time';. We observe starts and finishes. Our whole life is made up of beginnings and endings; from the day we are born to the day we die. Romanticism, being part of our nature, with its concept of 'What if?' and 'I hope that'; which perpetuates our wish of going back in time and changing aspects of our 'past'; or wanting to know what is in store for us in the upcoming 'future'.
The concept of 'time', to the majority of people, is the same as the concept of a 'flat earth' was to our ancestors. We understand it based on our observations and experiences, but it doesn't mean we totally understand it at all. Even scientific explanations and experiments only scratch the surface of what 'time' really is or isn't.
It's hard to comprehend that there maybe no real 'past' or 'future', but only a 'former Now'; and a 'Now yet to happen';. Though it may seem a fine line in definition, then the best way to sum it up is "everything that was, is and will be all occur in the 'Now'".
Think of an Etch-A-Sketch. The toy itself being the 'Now', but the pictures that are drawn on it by a child as our concept of past, present and future. Once the toy is turned over and the picture is gone, its gone, never to come back again. The picture lives on in the child's memory, but the picture itself no longer exists in the 'Now'. The memory of the picture is our concept the 'past'. The current blank screen is our concept of the 'present'; and any further pictures drawn on it is our concept of the 'future'.
Science fiction perpetuates concepts that are 'currently' more romantic than factual. Space ships moving faster than the speed of light, scrambling our molecules and projecting them over vast distances (transporters) or time travel are great devices used many times to help in a plot. It's great for the story and our enjoyment of it, but can any or all of it really happen? Only time will tell
*This is my first post...so please be kind /ttiforum/images/graemlins/smile.gif*
Night