07-14-2016, 06:13 PM
Hi folks. This is my first-ever new thread post.
I have enjoyed other people's analogies to describe time/space. My favorite is the pages of a book analogy. In time/space you can jump around to different "times" in the same way that we can do so in a story by moving to a later page in the book. In 3d space/time we can only experience the book in sequential order, page by page.
Then there is the movie analogy. While we experience the movie frame by frame from beginning to end, a person in time/space can jump to any point in the movie reel.
But I thought of another kind of analogy and wanted to see if you-all think it is useful in addition to (or in lieu of) the book/movie ones. Here it is:
On earth we experience time day by day as the earth turns. So "time" progresses forward always, just as the earth turns in the same direction always. At the equator, you move through "time" at 1,037 miles/hour. Let's assume the equator is space/time.
Now imagine moving physically up toward the north pole. As you move away from the equator, your speed (in my analogy, "time") slows down. At the 45th parallel (Salem, Oregon for those who know the West Coast) the speed is 733 miles/hour.
When you reach the exact north pole, your time speed is practically zero. (If you stand on the spot, you rotate slowly in a circle once every 24 hours.) This is time/space.
The north pole has a magical time travel ability. Move one step in any direction and you move into a different time zone. Let's say, 12 midnight. But go back to the center and then take one step in the opposite direction, and "poof" you are in the time zone for 12 noon. Instant time travel. The exact north pole is a land of "no time" because none of earth's time zones apply there.
In true time/space (not just my pretend analogy here), there would be infinite times you could go to.
I suppose you can view the trek from equator to pole as a "compressing" of space/time. At the equator, there is about 25,000 miles of "space" on that equatorial band. As you move to the 45th parallel, there is only 17,600 miles of "space" on that latitudinal band. When you reach the pole, "space" has compressed to the tiny point that the person is standing on, which is when "time" has *expanded* to encompass all times.
I like this mental image. As space/time contracts during the walk to the pole, time/space contracts to the ever-present now (and expands to every time too).
Another interesting adjunct to this analogy is a way to think about "positive" time/space and "negative" time/space.
Standing on the north pole again, during summer solstice. There is perpetual light. This is, I believe, the nature state of the Afterlife (positive time/space). The perfect 70 degree summer day.
So what is negative time/space? The south pole. It has the same magical attributes of instant time travel, but at the same time as the north pole is in summer solstice, the south is in darkness. Negative time/space.
Anyway, this is just a thought exercise. I thought I'd share.
I have enjoyed other people's analogies to describe time/space. My favorite is the pages of a book analogy. In time/space you can jump around to different "times" in the same way that we can do so in a story by moving to a later page in the book. In 3d space/time we can only experience the book in sequential order, page by page.
Then there is the movie analogy. While we experience the movie frame by frame from beginning to end, a person in time/space can jump to any point in the movie reel.
But I thought of another kind of analogy and wanted to see if you-all think it is useful in addition to (or in lieu of) the book/movie ones. Here it is:
On earth we experience time day by day as the earth turns. So "time" progresses forward always, just as the earth turns in the same direction always. At the equator, you move through "time" at 1,037 miles/hour. Let's assume the equator is space/time.
Now imagine moving physically up toward the north pole. As you move away from the equator, your speed (in my analogy, "time") slows down. At the 45th parallel (Salem, Oregon for those who know the West Coast) the speed is 733 miles/hour.
When you reach the exact north pole, your time speed is practically zero. (If you stand on the spot, you rotate slowly in a circle once every 24 hours.) This is time/space.
The north pole has a magical time travel ability. Move one step in any direction and you move into a different time zone. Let's say, 12 midnight. But go back to the center and then take one step in the opposite direction, and "poof" you are in the time zone for 12 noon. Instant time travel. The exact north pole is a land of "no time" because none of earth's time zones apply there.
In true time/space (not just my pretend analogy here), there would be infinite times you could go to.
I suppose you can view the trek from equator to pole as a "compressing" of space/time. At the equator, there is about 25,000 miles of "space" on that equatorial band. As you move to the 45th parallel, there is only 17,600 miles of "space" on that latitudinal band. When you reach the pole, "space" has compressed to the tiny point that the person is standing on, which is when "time" has *expanded* to encompass all times.
I like this mental image. As space/time contracts during the walk to the pole, time/space contracts to the ever-present now (and expands to every time too).
Another interesting adjunct to this analogy is a way to think about "positive" time/space and "negative" time/space.
Standing on the north pole again, during summer solstice. There is perpetual light. This is, I believe, the nature state of the Afterlife (positive time/space). The perfect 70 degree summer day.
So what is negative time/space? The south pole. It has the same magical attributes of instant time travel, but at the same time as the north pole is in summer solstice, the south is in darkness. Negative time/space.
Anyway, this is just a thought exercise. I thought I'd share.
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