It's a matter of time...

[Hades]

At the risk of some "put the bong down son" comments I was trying to explain the concept of time to my daughter today and two things struck me:

1) If time was created at the start of the universe then time didn't exist before the universe.
2) If the universe one day ends then time will end.

Once time ends then does that mean we never existed

 

[tom_e]

Time is a completely made up concept, do you think animals wonder how many hours they've been awake?

It doesn't "exist" as it is.

 

[StoutMeister]

Correct!


You can pass the bong now son.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

No, just that the values we use to measure existence no longer vary.

For all intents and purposes there is no before or after the universe by definition of time or the universe.

All just made up concepts and semantics. We are actually just poos through gods letterbox.

 

[Hades]

We are actually just poos through gods letterbox.

Thanks. It's much easier to grasp when put in simple terms like that

 

[RaohNS]

There is no such thing as time. Its just something we have constructed to help us make sense of things.

Figuring out how to manipulate it is when someone can play god, although if all time is already in existence... Someone would have done that by now which means that humanity must one day die out. Oh well we had a good run I'm sure

 

[snips86x]

Correct!


You can pass the bong now son.

After reading that surely it should be 'Can you pass the bong now son'

 

[randomshenans]

Time exists as a concept, way we use to measure/ understand linear events, but really it doesn't exist.

 

[iamdjdz]

Time still exists before and after the end of the universe just there is no universe to take advantage of it.

 

[cheesyboy]

Does a bear **** in the woods if there's no one there to hear it?

 

[Tunney]

Perhaps introduce a book like Why e=mc^2 as bedtime reading? It's got a pretty good explanation of time-space.

 

[tom_e]

Time still exists before and after the end of the universe just there is no universe to take advantage of it.

But once the universe ends there will be no humans and as it's a human concept there'll be no time either.

 

[porushinobu]

After reading that surely it should be 'could you pass the bong now son'

 

[Haggisman]

For all intensive purposes there is no before or after the universe by definition of time or the universe.

NO!

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Time still exists before and after the end of the universe just there is no universe to take advantage of it.

To have time, you need it relative to another variable. If there is nothing but time, then time is not a variable. There is no before and after the universe by definition.

The universe is space, time, matter, energy and all the extra bits and bobs including pennies behind the couch.

 

[HazardO]

[xkcd]Somebody on the internet is wrong![/xkcd]

My understanding (having just spoken the the Physics PHD and ex CERN bloke who sits near me) is that time does exist (It's an important part of E=MC² as it forms part of C), however it's really space/time, and our perception of the differences between space and time themselves are perhaps wrong. No one really knows what if anything existed before the big bang.

 

[Skidder]

Stop bogarting that bong son

 

[boxman2000]

If time was created separately to the universe then what is to say that they are co-dependant? We clearly have night and day, seasons and cycles so base our time on this. If observable time were to stop then we'd have bigger problems than peoples Rolex or Tag not being worth much.

Time was created by Hollywood to prolong movie franchises that should have been long dead an buried.

 

[MookJong]

1) If time was created at the start of the universe then time didn't exist before the universe.
2) If the universe one day ends then time will end.

I know hardly anything compared to others on this forum about space, but to actually try and answer OPs questions:

1. Time is simply a measure of movement and interactions in the universe. If everything was still it would be like someone had hit the pause button and time would not exist.
2. Yes time will effectively end when there is no activity in the universe.

 

[EddScott]

bogarting

I love how this term has persisted.