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Time is basically a distance.

The farther we look into space, the further back in time we go, so the theory makes sense on a cosmic level. It won't help me catch the bus on time though, eh.


"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them."


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Perhaps time is basically an effect...aging registers time. And time only exists due to the effects that
represent it. The only tangible force here is the aging process, which happens by itself, time simply the measurement thereof.


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Perhaps time is basically an effect...aging registers time. And time only exists due to the effects that
represent it. The only tangible force here is the aging process, which happens by itself, time simply the measurement thereof.

Yes yes yes! That's what I've been thinking! Thank you for putting it so much better than I could!


#38950 09/05/01 04:41 PM
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Last night the PBS show "Nova" had what was a parallel to this thread and its predecessor on "Time" (and pondering traveling forward and backward through it). Although no concrete conclusion was offered (aside from serious doubts about traveling backward being raised), this tid-bit 'forced' me to revive this thread.

I'm paraphrasing Steven Hawking...

"I won't bet money against time travel with anyone because they may have been to the future... and know better".


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yes, time is a measurement of distance.. but its not constant.. as few as a hundred years ago, belligerentyouth was months away from me.. now, he is less than 8 hours.. even max is only 14 to 15 hours away..

It used to take 6 days(fast) to 3 weeks (slow) to travel from NY to Washington. now fast is about 3 hours, (Amtrak metro liner from Mid town NY, 34th street to Union station DC) or 6 hours (driving time, including 1 rest stop and 1 stop to refill gas tank.)

locally, we can't really (currently!) travel back in time, but who knows.. some day in the future, there might be tours back to the big bang! .


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... some day in the future, there might be tours back to the big bang!

cf. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe


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cf. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

There seems to be a hole in my junk drawer memory. Was there not some mention of a corresponding restaurant at the beginning of the universe?


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Was there not some mention of a corresponding restaurant at the beginning of the universe?

That would be the Big Bang Burger Bar.


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I've always liked the theory that time is a purely human construct, and that in nature there is only now. Certes, as has been posited previously in this thread, time is completely subjective. We talk of the current generation as the "now" generation, incapable of planning, or at least unwilling to do so, living only for the moment. Probably every older generation has said something similar about its successor.

Yet, even though I like the idea of time being a metaphor rather than a reality, you can't help wondering if that theory holds water. Take our dog, for instance. No, please take her. She plans future actions. In the mornings she goes downstairs and waits by the door for her walk. If we look like we're not going to walk her, she has a range of actions which she carries out, not necessarily in a set sequence, to remind us of our obligations as pet owners. In fact, I'm convinced she has the number of the RSPCA and is keeping it reserve ... To plan, the planner must have a sense of time. Sure, she starts work from cues we provide, but after that, she works it through herself. She also knows when to give up. If that doesn't show a sense of time, I'm a monkey's uncle!

Okay, throw me to the lions ...



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max, what we have here is lese chronicity -- Flatlander's post was the perfect ending to this thread.

-joe (a crime against time) friday



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