Not for the Faint Hearted

Strange thread title. OP, obviously you wanted to entice people to click on what sounded mysterious and dramatic :rolleyes: . :weird:

I'll pass. :eek:nthego:
 

John Bull, there is science, a construct of human beings, which attempts to explain the universe and everything in it, and in doing do, it creates an appropriate language style, with well defined terms.

There is also language that has evolved to describe the lived experience of human beings, and in that language terms are less well defined, and may even mean different things to different eyes and ears. In that language set the terms yesterday, today and tomorrow and past present and future have meaning and are useful for everyday communication.

As a person with a good scientific and mathematical education, I can appreciate both forms of language. I do think you need to moderate your tone which comes across as a tad condescending. The best scientific minds are able to convey complex ideas to others using everyday language, reserving the specialised language for the journals and conferences.
 
I'm tempted to say "So what?' but will refrain because that would be rude.
 

exwisehe said:
Basically, this is the old "Zeno's Paradox" discussion that has been around a long time.

Sure, we live in the "real continuum of time", and just like the real line in number theory, there are between any two points on the real line, an infinite number of real points, so in our lives on this journey there are an infinite number of moments of time to pass through.

So, as in Zeno, an arrow can't really travel from one point to another because it would have to pass through an infinite number of points, hence would never arrive at its destination.

This has bothered thinkers ever since Zeno. That's why its called a paradox.
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Good Post, Exwisehe
 
exwisehe said:
Basically, this is the old "Zeno's Paradox" discussion that has been around a long time.

Sure, we live in the "real continuum of time", and just like the real line in number theory, there are between any two points on the real line, an infinite number of real points, so in our lives on this journey there are an infinite number of moments of time to pass through.

So, as in Zeno, an arrow can't really travel from one point to another because it would have to pass through an infinite number of points, hence would never arrive at its destination.

This has bothered thinkers ever since Zeno. That's why its called a paradox.
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Thanks. Excellent post, cuts right to the heart of the quandary. I love trying to balance my mind on the head of a pin!
 
Can I simply ask why your no present statement matters to you? Personally I watch so many “time oriented shows” to have no worries. Time is not an issue. We exist and then don’t.
 
John Bull said:
There is no NOW or PRESENT and certainly no FUTURE, everything, our very life is HISTORY.
The screen you are looking at is history.


Since light travels at a finite speed - 983571087.9 fps - it takes time for it to bounce from the screen to your eye. When you see a word or image, you are seeing it as it looked some time in the past.


The image of a book you are reading or on your PC screen takes about 1 nanosecond or one billionth (1,000,000,000) of a second to reach your eye. You are seeing everything in the past - it is accumulated history.
The PRESENT cannot exist, since time is continuous.


The illusion of PRESENT is the mathematical integral of time "dt" between infinity and the time taken at the speed of light for the image to reach your eye, it all becomes MEMORY.


The illusion of PRESENT = MEMORY = HISTORY


Those accumulated increments of infinitesimal time are conveniently transformed by us into seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years to constitute the illusion of a PRESENT and a positive PAST. We are actually all living in the past.
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Because of the speed of light we cannot tell the difference that we are living in the past and treat it as living in the present.

It's not till a little bit later that it becomes the past. As soon as I type this it will be in the past .

The future is a little bit different. There's no guarantee you will be there.

I hope this is serious enough for you and I agree with your frustration when people treat scientific theories as frivolous and ruin the thread.

We are just lucky that someone hasn't inserted a boring music video.
 
Olivia said:
Education doesn't affect lifestyle?
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Lara said:
Mr. Bull...So what does your "educated mind" mind tell you as to "how this has affected how you personally live your life"? And don't tell us that there's no such thing as life because of the speed of light....oh, never mind, you already said "our very life is history".

So I take it you're not really here :rofl:

Good question, Olivia
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John Bull said:
Ha - Ha very funny. I am not going to explain the difference between educational progress and personal choice of lifestyle.
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Olivia said:
Very convenient. :)
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Deleted my comments which I thought were funny but other may differ.
But I just HAVE to laugh @ the Mr. Bull part:lofl:
 
There are specific moments of time - when light is created and when the light bounces off a page of a book or a computer screen; ie., 'present times'.
Followed by other specific 'present times' when the light reaches the eye.
Which are subsequently followed by more specific 'present times' when the image reaches the brain and is comprehended.

There are infinite 'present times'. Simultaneously at every minute position in the universe. And they are all followed immediately by another on. Ad infinitium.
To claim there is "no present" is missing so much... that, at this present time, I feel sorry for whomever would think so.
 
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