3 ms·
I think it's still surprising, if not "paradoxical" (obviously it's not paradoxical if it's reality). The difference is: in your two examples we know there's a
by SamBam 6y ago
I think it's still surprising, if not "paradoxical" (obviously it's not paradoxical if it's reality).
The difference is: in your two examples we know there's a delay, and all you did was say that some people will know the result before others who are receiving the delayed result.
What the original question is saying is that you can't ask "well, what is happening right now on Proxima Centauri?" since the very question of "now" is not specific. I think that's quite different.
On Earth, with Newtonian physics, we intuitively think that "now" is shared, so we really can say "I wonder whether someone has scored a goal now," and the answer shouldn't depend on whether you're in a car or not.
- simias 6y ago>On Earth, with Newtonian physics, we intuitively think that "now" is shared, so we really can say "I wonder whether someone has scored a goal now," and the answer shouldn't depend on whether you're in a car or not. That's insightful, and actually it made me realize that it's probably true that nowadays we expect information to be available worldwide effectively instantly, but that obviously wasn't always the case. "Right now" we're having this discussion on Hacker News with people from around the world, but merely a few decades ago this type of simultaneity wouldn't have been possible. Nothing of what would could've done locally could've immediately influenced dozens of people around the globe. This shared "now" is effectively a modern invention.
- gmadsen 6y agoI think the unusual part is that it is not a limit of communication, it is time itself. With a tape, you know that it happened in the past, for this, both are experiencing their real present time, but they don't agree with each other.
- ngvrnd 6y agoIt's only surprising if you don't understand that this is a block universe.