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Whenever I think along these lines, I can never reconcile it with relativity, and the fact that gravity effects time. If it's just a human construct, how can it

Whenever I think along these lines, I can never reconcile it with relativity, and the fact that gravity effects time. If it's just a human construct, how can it be effected by gravity?

ilitirit 4y ago
If I understand correctly, General Relativity doesn't consider this in the same conceptual terms. "Gravity" doesn't affect "time" - mass/energy curves space-time (simplified for the sake of brevity).
- wmwragg 4y ago
  Sorry, yeah I was also oversimplifying, what I meant was that General Relativity treats time as a real thing, which is effected by some other real thing, which doesn't track with time being just a human concept
mjevans 4y ago
Time can also be viewed as the propagation of information, or the transmission of energy. That probably not even correct either. It reminds me of the Plank (sp) constant, a minimum unit of distance (? unsure if I remember / ever understood this correctly). A pure (parallel) event driven model of time might be seen as the propagation of energy with some form (information). In that model folded dimensions, gravity, even the concept of space or time can distort as relationships strain. That's how space and time could be 'affected by gravity'. Yet even with that framework I can't imagine time travel anywhere remotely like it exists in fiction. I would really like to think that it's just my very non-expert knowledge, and the general immaturity of even our knowledge as a species that keeps the universe such a mundane place. Any form of FTL, time travel, or similar fun scifi concept would keep life interesting.
- renox 4y ago
  > Time can also be viewed as the propagation of information, or the transmission of energy. ?? Given that photons which transmit energy are 'timeless' that's a strange claim.
  - RichardCA 4y ago
    Well it takes around 8.3 minutes for light to cross a distance of 1 AU so any light from the Sun will take that long to reach the Earth. No information about the state of the Sun will be available to us sooner than that 8.3 minute barrier. At the macro level where we all live our lives, this way of looking at things holds. Understanding Relativity means embracing certain paradoxes and that just happens to be one of them. I mean yes, absolutely, the world of a photon would be something akin to a mathematical point with no distance or time. That knowledge is important but it's not always useful.

Whenever I think along these lines, I can never reconcile it with relativity, and the fact that gravity effects time. If it's just a human construct, how can it be effected by gravity?

ilitirit 4y ago

If I understand correctly, General Relativity doesn't consider this in the same conceptual terms. "Gravity" doesn't affect "time" - mass/energy curves space-time (simplified for the sake of brevity).

wmwragg 4y ago
Sorry, yeah I was also oversimplifying, what I meant was that General Relativity treats time as a real thing, which is effected by some other real thing, which doesn't track with time being just a human concept

mjevans 4y ago

Time can also be viewed as the propagation of information, or the transmission of energy. That probably not even correct either. It reminds me of the Plank (sp) constant, a minimum unit of distance (? unsure if I remember / ever understood this correctly). A pure (parallel) event driven model of time might be seen as the propagation of energy with some form (information). In that model folded dimensions, gravity, even the concept of space or time can distort as relationships strain. That's how space and time could be 'affected by gravity'. Yet even with that framework I can't imagine time travel anywhere remotely like it exists in fiction. I would really like to think that it's just my very non-expert knowledge, and the general immaturity of even our knowledge as a species that keeps the universe such a mundane place. Any form of FTL, time travel, or similar fun scifi concept would keep life interesting.

renox 4y ago
> Time can also be viewed as the propagation of information, or the transmission of energy. ?? Given that photons which transmit energy are 'timeless' that's a strange claim.
- RichardCA 4y ago
  Well it takes around 8.3 minutes for light to cross a distance of 1 AU so any light from the Sun will take that long to reach the Earth. No information about the state of the Sun will be available to us sooner than that 8.3 minute barrier. At the macro level where we all live our lives, this way of looking at things holds. Understanding Relativity means embracing certain paradoxes and that just happens to be one of them. I mean yes, absolutely, the world of a photon would be something akin to a mathematical point with no distance or time. That knowledge is important but it's not always useful.