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Paradoxical time - a passage summary from
There is no true time. Suppose we calibrate our clock using a pendulum. How do we know it swings in regular intervals?
There is no true time. Suppose we calibrate our clock using a pendulum. How do we know it swings in regular intervals? If we try to confirm that by counting the oscillations using our pulse, for example, but how then do we know our pulse is regular? We might compare my pulse to another pendulum, and this just gets all circular.
You might ask, well I can count the seconds on my watch (which depends on pendulums) and it seems regular to me! But our senses could be fooled or proceed in a non-regular way, and that, is as hard to find as tricks played on us by our own brain.
We really don't know, it just seems to be useful assuming such regular & universal "t" exists.
If we try to confirm that by counting the oscillations using our pulse, for example, but how then do we know our pulse is regular? We might compare my pulse to another pendulum, and this just gets all circular.
You might ask, well I can count the seconds on my watch (which depends on pendulums) and it seems regular to me! But our senses could be fooled or proceed in a non-regular way, and that, is as hard to find as tricks played on us by our own brain.
We really don't know, it just seems to be useful assuming such regular & universal "t" exists.
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Happy new year. A few days ago I finished the book Reality is not what it seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity by Carlo Rovelli. A fair eye-opener it is. Started from some archaic history of the basics of our universe, slowly merge into something I do understand, spiraling into something that totally perplexes me, then pulls me back with something that I can somehow get a feel of so to be interested, at least.
The passage about why time doesn't "exist properly" is real interesting so I've made a small summary.