Nov 13, 2023 06:22 PM
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231...about-time
INTRO: To mark the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, we'll be spending the next week tackling the big questions about time, including the science of time travel, how clocks have shaped humanity, and even the mind-bending temporal consequences of flying into a black hole... (MORE - details)
WHAT'S COVERED (a few excerpts):
1. YOUR LANGUAGE AFFECTS YOUR PERCEPTION OF TIME
[...]
2. WHEN THE UNIVERSE EVENTUALLY DIES THERE WILL BE NO MORE FUTURE AND NO PAST
[...]
3. IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO HAVE CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE WITHOUT TIME
We count, therefore we are. The ticking of time is the invisible heartbeat of our lives, and affects every moment of our consciousness. Time and self are in perpetual handshake – even a human trapped in a completely dark cave would still be governed by the circadian rhythms of our internal clocks.
Holly Andersen, who studies the philosophy of science and metaphysics at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, warns about what losing our sense of time could do to our sense of self. She believes it's not possible to have conscious experience without time and the passage of time. Think about how your personal identity is built over time, filed away as memories.
"These memories constitute you over time," says Andersen. "If you lose a bunch of time you are now a different person."
Read more: How to escape the tyranny of the clock.
4. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A CLOCK WITH 100% ACCURACY
[...]
5. THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME IS ACTIVELY CREATED BY OUR MINDS
Various factors are crucial to our construction of the perception of time – memory, concentration, emotion and the sense we have that time is somehow located in space. Our time perception roots us in our mental reality. Time is not only at the heart of the way we organise life, but the way we experience it.
The upside is that this gives us some measure of control over how we experience it. For example, if you want to feel like your life is not rushing past you, the key is novelty: research shows that a life of repetitive and routine activities will feel, as you reflect on it, that time is moving faster.
Read more: What we get wrong about time.
6. THERE ARE CITIZENS OF THE 22ND CENTURY ALREADY AMONG US – BUT THEY'RE NOT TIME TRAVELLERS
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7. WE CAN ALL EXPERIENCE A TIME WARP
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8. WHEN THE CLOCKS CHANGE FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS, WE HAVE ONE BUILDER TO THANK (OR BLAME)
[...]
9. YOU DON'T ACTUALLY LIVE IN THE PRESENT
As you read these words, it's easy to assume that it's "now". However, it's not.
Take the simple act of looking at a person speaking to you across a table. The confirmation of them moving their lips reaches our eyes before the sound of their voice (because light travels faster than sound) but our brain syncs them up to make them match.
And that's not even the weirdest thing about time. The laws of physics suggest that in some cases, it can also flow backwards. Philosopher Katie Robertson explains the dizzying implications of all this in the video below:
Watch: Are you experiencing time wrong?
Is our perception of time wrong?
10. OUR DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER DUE TO THE MOON'S GRAVITY
[...]
11. MANY PEOPLE LIVE OUTSIDE CONVENTIONAL TIME – FOR THEM, IT'S NOT 2023
[...]
Is time travel really possible? Here's what physics says
[...]
INTRO: To mark the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, we'll be spending the next week tackling the big questions about time, including the science of time travel, how clocks have shaped humanity, and even the mind-bending temporal consequences of flying into a black hole... (MORE - details)
WHAT'S COVERED (a few excerpts):
1. YOUR LANGUAGE AFFECTS YOUR PERCEPTION OF TIME
[...]
2. WHEN THE UNIVERSE EVENTUALLY DIES THERE WILL BE NO MORE FUTURE AND NO PAST
[...]
3. IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO HAVE CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE WITHOUT TIME
We count, therefore we are. The ticking of time is the invisible heartbeat of our lives, and affects every moment of our consciousness. Time and self are in perpetual handshake – even a human trapped in a completely dark cave would still be governed by the circadian rhythms of our internal clocks.
Holly Andersen, who studies the philosophy of science and metaphysics at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, warns about what losing our sense of time could do to our sense of self. She believes it's not possible to have conscious experience without time and the passage of time. Think about how your personal identity is built over time, filed away as memories.
"These memories constitute you over time," says Andersen. "If you lose a bunch of time you are now a different person."
Read more: How to escape the tyranny of the clock.
4. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A CLOCK WITH 100% ACCURACY
[...]
5. THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME IS ACTIVELY CREATED BY OUR MINDS
Various factors are crucial to our construction of the perception of time – memory, concentration, emotion and the sense we have that time is somehow located in space. Our time perception roots us in our mental reality. Time is not only at the heart of the way we organise life, but the way we experience it.
The upside is that this gives us some measure of control over how we experience it. For example, if you want to feel like your life is not rushing past you, the key is novelty: research shows that a life of repetitive and routine activities will feel, as you reflect on it, that time is moving faster.
Read more: What we get wrong about time.
6. THERE ARE CITIZENS OF THE 22ND CENTURY ALREADY AMONG US – BUT THEY'RE NOT TIME TRAVELLERS
[...]
7. WE CAN ALL EXPERIENCE A TIME WARP
[...]
8. WHEN THE CLOCKS CHANGE FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS, WE HAVE ONE BUILDER TO THANK (OR BLAME)
[...]
9. YOU DON'T ACTUALLY LIVE IN THE PRESENT
As you read these words, it's easy to assume that it's "now". However, it's not.
Take the simple act of looking at a person speaking to you across a table. The confirmation of them moving their lips reaches our eyes before the sound of their voice (because light travels faster than sound) but our brain syncs them up to make them match.
And that's not even the weirdest thing about time. The laws of physics suggest that in some cases, it can also flow backwards. Philosopher Katie Robertson explains the dizzying implications of all this in the video below:
Watch: Are you experiencing time wrong?
Is our perception of time wrong?
10. OUR DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER DUE TO THE MOON'S GRAVITY
[...]
11. MANY PEOPLE LIVE OUTSIDE CONVENTIONAL TIME – FOR THEM, IT'S NOT 2023
[...]
Is time travel really possible? Here's what physics says
[...]