Comment on Time travel and the economy

• WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_of_simultaneity

  The present does not exist. From the previous link:

  It can be argued that special relativity eliminates the concept of absolute simultaneity and a universal present: according to the relativity of simultaneity, observers in different frames of reference can have different measurements of whether a given pair of events happened at the same time or at different times, with there being no physical basis for preferring one frame’s judgments over those of another. However, there are events that may be non-simultaneous in all frames of reference: when one event is within the light cone of another—its causal past or causal future—then observers in all frames of reference show that one event preceded the other. The causal past and causal future are consistent within all frames of reference, but any other time is “elsewhere”, and within it there is no present, past, or future. There is no physical basis for a set of events that represents the present.

  Many philosophers have argued that relativity implies eternalism.[6] Philosopher of science Dean Rickles says that, "the consensus among philosophers seems to be that special and general relativity are incompatible with presentism.

  If two observers will disagree on which events happened in “the present,” then “the present” cannot exist as a real universal entity. “The present” only makes any physical sense in classical, pre-20th century Newtonian mechanics.

  This is why the block universe or eternalism makes more sense.

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  • Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    It can be argued that special relativity eliminates the concept of absolute simultaneity

    That’s not the same thing. Obviously all experiences are delayed, and therefore about the past, even if it is merely picoseconds.
    In that way we can only experience the past, that is obvious, and not relevant to my argument.

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    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      You’re still imagining that there is some fixed universe playing out at constant time, and that we all just experience the echoes of this present in different orders. This isn’t what relativity says. Clocks traveling near the speed of light don’t just appear to slow down, they actually slow down.

      Different regions of the universe don’t even experience the same flow rate of time. Someone living on a mountaintop experiences time faster than someone at sea level. And yet you cling to this fantasy of their being some universal “present.” You cannot have a universal present in a universe composed of different flow rates of time!

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      • Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Clocks traveling near the speed of light don’t just appear to slow down, they actually slow down.

        Which is EXACTLY the ONLY thing I said you can actually do.

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