Re: Stray Thoughts & Provocative Questions

"Uncle Al" <UncleAl0@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:42D42E76.7B9E9A09@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Mr. Knowitall" wrote:
>>
>> "Uncle Al" <UncleAl0@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:42D401CC.5518821@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >
>> <SNIP>
>>
>> > Hey stoooopid: Time requires a clock. If you do not like
>> > oscillators, use radioactive decay. If you do not like fragmenting
>> > nuclei, use nuclear spin isomers.
>> >
>> <SNIP>
>>
> Uncle Al

That's kind of like foolishly claiming that distance (space between 2
points) requires a tape measure. You apparently don't understand the clear
difference between observable phenomena themselves and the human-devised
instruments that merely measure those phenomena. Many of the so-called
"lower" life-forms seem to be aware of the passage of time...but we don't
see them wearing fucking wrist-watches do we?

Time is a measure of change. Change is based on observable phenomena like
motion, growth and decay. It is also a subjective phenomenon that is totally
dependent on the observer's frame of reference. There can be no such thing
as some "objective" time that exists independently from all other influences
and that can be universally applied. Can our concept of *now* be valid
across the totality of physical reality? Is our *now* the same *now* that is
occurring in the region of Quasar QSO 0957+561? Is that object billions of
years in our past and we billions of years in its future? We have a vague
idea of *when* they are in relative time, but in terms of *now*, it's pretty
difficult to also know exactly *where* they are in relative spatial
coordinates. Perhaps this is related to the uncertainty principle in QM. We
can only know where they *were* in our past. From their frame of reference,
they cannot yet be aware of our existence since the EM radiation from our
location hasn't yet traversed the spatial distance between us (if indeed
they still physically exist).

I would be tempted to describe the concept of "now" as that extremely
short-lived interval that separates the past from the future. That interval
was specifically described by one Max Planck in 1899. You may have heard of
him.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Planck+time&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1&linktext=Planck%20time

My thoughts may be more philosophical and speculative than hard science, but
that doesn't necessarily disqualify them as nonsense (especially compared to
most of the lunacy I see posted here every day)...nor do your egotistical
and chauvinistic insults. You may have academic credentials (real or
imagined) up your yin-yang, but that does little to convince me that you're
nothing more than a "highly educated" *** that is severely lacking in
social skills.





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