Time in Philosophy and Physics
My apologies for the delayed response. My first effort was not posted.
Philosophies connecting time with change are numerous. Consider our use of the Earth's rotation to regulate our clocks. Julian Barbour's winning essay for the The Foundational Questions Institute is an appropriate reference for our discussion of time as movement as it is against his views that I am arguing.
General Relativity
Einstein Proposed that because acceleration compresses space/time, observers that have experience different accelerations (inertial reference frames) will experience different intervals. He reasoned that since time (Path through Space/time) will be different for each observer there can be no "real" time. An observer that has accelerated will move into the future of one that has not. On a microscope scale we are all moving at different velocities. Are we disconnected in time? The astronaut in orbit experiences faster time as a result of his lesser gravitational acceleration. Are we short cutting into his future? Another conundrum; could there be thousands of you's communicating with thousands of me's all at thousands of different points along the unmoving time continuum?
My position is that general relativity does not require discontinuity of Space/time. Along any time-line there are an infinite number of points that can be exactly mapped to the infinite number of points on a different space/time track. Your GPS unit easily correlates the effects of general relativity to give each location a position in space and time. There are Lorentz transformations that can unite all our time-lines into a connected continuum. The result is that time and the passing of time is a shared reality.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Ultimate Clock
Some will assert that time is a purely human invention. However, there are several biological clocks that are used by organisms to measure time. Apparently the measurement of time elapsed is a critical function of many biological systems. But, no clocks, biological or human made, measure some absolute, universal time. Yet the universe may contain the absolute time measurement.
Many philosophers agree that time is measured in terms of change. If so, there may be an absolute clock. That clock would measure the one absolute, universal change; the velocity of light. That is the change in the position of a photon (regardless of the observer's inertial reference frame). Such a clock would indicate the change in photon position in terms of distance. The movement of photons is the upper limit at which at which energy and information can travel. If photons do not move time does not pass, nothing happens. Moreover, we cannot breathe, think, or perceive. From this perspective the idea of a timeless universe seems untenable.
(A more rigorous discussion would include Lorentz Transforms and common reference points to reconcile inertial reference frames. These point can be considered later.)
Many philosophers agree that time is measured in terms of change. If so, there may be an absolute clock. That clock would measure the one absolute, universal change; the velocity of light. That is the change in the position of a photon (regardless of the observer's inertial reference frame). Such a clock would indicate the change in photon position in terms of distance. The movement of photons is the upper limit at which at which energy and information can travel. If photons do not move time does not pass, nothing happens. Moreover, we cannot breathe, think, or perceive. From this perspective the idea of a timeless universe seems untenable.
(A more rigorous discussion would include Lorentz Transforms and common reference points to reconcile inertial reference frames. These point can be considered later.)
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Parsimony of Future Prediction
Organisms that waste energy are at a disadvantage to similarly equipped ones that do not. Under the stress of competition they will lose out. The human brain is costly in terms of energy consumption. An important brain function is partitioning energy use according to the value of a task. Avoiding life threats is a high value task that intensely engages a number of brain regions. Humans can afford this energy drain because it gives them a survival advantage over organisms that cannot anticipate threats or make plans to avoid them.
Many physicists, Julian Barbour in particular, assert organisms have no control over their futures because there is no "future" in the sense that the passage of time is an illusion. His book "The End of Time" and his recent winning essay for The Foundational Questions Institute,"The Nature of Time," assert that biologists and psychologists need to investigate the origins of this illusion.
Yet if organisms invest valuable energy on nervous systems that sense the environment in order to make behavioral adjustments; how could this investment payoff if time does not pass?
Next we will have to examine the "timeless" physicists' opinions on mechanisms of evolution!
Many physicists, Julian Barbour in particular, assert organisms have no control over their futures because there is no "future" in the sense that the passage of time is an illusion. His book "The End of Time" and his recent winning essay for The Foundational Questions Institute,"The Nature of Time," assert that biologists and psychologists need to investigate the origins of this illusion.
Yet if organisms invest valuable energy on nervous systems that sense the environment in order to make behavioral adjustments; how could this investment payoff if time does not pass?
Next we will have to examine the "timeless" physicists' opinions on mechanisms of evolution!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Lecture Abstract, Institute of advance studies
* 2 November 2006
Speaker: Dr. W. Robert Hudgins, Frederick, Maryland, USA
Topic: Predicting the Future: A Biological Imperative(C)
Abstract:
Contemporary physics postulates that Time is an illusion, or a human construct, relative to the location of the observer of an event. And science generally disparages prediction of future events as "crystal ball reading". Yet, within the part of the universe in which we live, all organisms, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated, use information and time measurement to alter their behaviour in response to changing environmental conditions. The evolution of the nervous system suggests that Time not only exists, but is of paramount importance. Over time, the ability to change behaviour drives natural selection. Natural selection results in the development of more-sophisticated perceptual systems in more-complex organisms and with enhanced ability to accurately predict the future. The mechanisms by which organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans, predict the future will be discussed along with how, in higher organisms, memory is a multiplier of this ability. Time, information acquisition, and current directions in the globalization of culture will also be addressed in this context.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Hudgins received his BA in Chemistry from the University of the South, an MA in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee, and his PhD from George Washington University in Biochemistry - with specializations in Bioenergetics, Neuroscience, and Molecular Biology. Most of his working life was on the National Institutes of Health campuses in both Bethesda and Frederick, Maryland.
His research has ranged from the physical organic chemistry of carcinogens to the control of gene _expression for non-toxic therapies in cancer and sickle-cell-anemia.
Officially retired, Dr. Hudgins is presently studying the relationship between information, entropy, and energy - with attention to the nature of quantum limits and time. These interests are augmented by a fascination with geological processes and the evolution of life.
* 15 November 2006
Speaker: Dr. W. Robert Hudgins, Frederick, Maryland, USA
Topic: Predicting the Future: A Biological Imperative(C)
Abstract:
Contemporary physics postulates that Time is an illusion, or a human construct, relative to the location of the observer of an event. And science generally disparages prediction of future events as "crystal ball reading". Yet, within the part of the universe in which we live, all organisms, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated, use information and time measurement to alter their behaviour in response to changing environmental conditions. The evolution of the nervous system suggests that Time not only exists, but is of paramount importance. Over time, the ability to change behaviour drives natural selection. Natural selection results in the development of more-sophisticated perceptual systems in more-complex organisms and with enhanced ability to accurately predict the future. The mechanisms by which organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans, predict the future will be discussed along with how, in higher organisms, memory is a multiplier of this ability. Time, information acquisition, and current directions in the globalization of culture will also be addressed in this context.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Hudgins received his BA in Chemistry from the University of the South, an MA in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee, and his PhD from George Washington University in Biochemistry - with specializations in Bioenergetics, Neuroscience, and Molecular Biology. Most of his working life was on the National Institutes of Health campuses in both Bethesda and Frederick, Maryland.
His research has ranged from the physical organic chemistry of carcinogens to the control of gene _expression for non-toxic therapies in cancer and sickle-cell-anemia.
Officially retired, Dr. Hudgins is presently studying the relationship between information, entropy, and energy - with attention to the nature of quantum limits and time. These interests are augmented by a fascination with geological processes and the evolution of life.
* 15 November 2006
Monday, December 28, 2009
Predicting the Future is a Universal Biophysical Process
Even “primitive” organisms, that can sense their environment, use information and time measurements to alter their behavior to anticipate changing conditions. This blog will discuss how creatures ranging from bacteria to humans predict the future, and how humans by increasing their power to “remember” are vastly increasing their power to predict the future.
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