It's a matter of time...

Is it not simply that time is just another dimension, like the standard x-y-z of space.

Its just that it differes from the other dimensions insofar as at the moment we dont understand if its possible to go either direction along it like we can with any of the other 3.

In terms of time existing or not existing before or after the universe is a moot point, as there would be no observer to tell of our existence, and if there is then time and indeed the universe still exists.
 
Hades said:
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 :confused::eek::D:D:D
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1) yep
2) the universe won't end but activity will cease thereby making time irrelevent as nothing will ever change.

Time is measurable as the marking of change in the universe known as the Entropic principle. Time itself however is not the same everywhere you go travel at the speed of light and time as a measureable effect will cease. Likewise time is dilated in the presence of mavity, in the vicinity of the singularity at the heart of a Black Hole time will cease passing also. Any object that produces mavity will cause time to dilate its a measurable effect place two atomic clocks at the earths surface and synchronise them and time will pass at exactly the same rate on both clocks but take one into orbit and leave one on the ground and the one in orbit will tick at a faster rate due to lower mavity. This is measureable and can be seen and is not merely theoretical.
 
tom_e said:
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.
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The second part of your sentence is doesn't fit the first part

Time isn't a made up concept... (some of)the arbitrary units we use to measure it are. Pointing out that 'hours' are arbitrary is irrelevant.
 
Haggisman said:
Can it be scientifically proven that it's not true? If not, then the only logical conclusion which can be drawn is that it must be possibly true.*



* that's how the whole god argument works isn't it? :p
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Well that's one way of looking at it - I was wondering if it was possible to scientifically prove god has a letterbox? :)
 
Time, as we measure it, is quite literally a capture of a cyclic mechanism based around the mechanics of the universe closest to us (i.e. the passage of the Sun across the Earth) as this determines the most important thing that affects us, day and night. Interestingly if we were to go to a different part of the universe were physics behaved differently (not likely given our current knowledge, but never say never!) Then it might be that "time" changes, it might run faster or slower, in reality time will have stayed the same as time is our defined measure, what will have changed is what we observing.

The philosophical question is: without humans to observe it, does time still exist? The answer of course is "it depends". Undoubtedly the physical rules that govern the universe still play out without us, action will still lead to reaction, but without our consciousness there to quantify the passage of "time", does it exist?

There's no hard and fast answer, it's an interesting one to ponder over though if you ever find yourself needing to burn time staring out of a train window! (there's a paradox in there somewhere...)
 
By my understanding time does not exist. There is only now and you are a single point of reference in the universe witnessing the transfers of energies, hence the illusion of time.
 
Hades said:
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 :confused::eek::D:D:D
Click to expand...

Time won't end at all time still moves regardless. Time will never stop.
 
of course time exists, it just doesnt exist in the way a toilet roll exists...you can't point at it or touch it and say look thats time that is. of course it exists though.
 
Kosmiche said:
of course time exists, it just doesnt exist in the way a toilet roll exists...you can't point at it or touch it and say look thats time that is. of course it exists though.
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It exists within the universe though. So outside of the universe it (may) not exist. If/when the universe ends then time doesn't exist. But did it exist?
 
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