Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? A Meditation on the Mystery of Time

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 12-31-15 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[OKSooner]

I was walking down the street one day... :)

[TBP]

The late, great Yogi Berra, one of the notable people we lost last year, had the answer to this.

“Hey, Yogi, what time is it?”

“You mean now?”

[Larry Lucido]

I can’t figure out why the guy in the song bothered wearing a watch. :-)

(”Geez, I just asked the dude what time it was. I didn’t ask for a damn lecture.”)

[Buttons12]

“For example, as an object approaches the speed of light, time slows down.”

At this point in the discussion I usually lose interest because I never get a satisfactory answer, but here are some of my questions.

If it’s all relative out there, then if time slows down as an object speeds up, does time actually stop altogether at some point or do you have to keep recalibrating time?

How does light behave (how fast does it travel) if time slows down or speeds up? Or are we talking not about “time” per se but merely about the speed of light which was supposed to be constant?

Is time (as we generally grasp it) based on some particular speed of objects (say, subatomic particles or pick your brand of basis of matter)?

Is there any...”where” external to time? Can matter exist without time or in a state where time is much faster or slower than here?

[UnwashedPeasant]

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

[UnwashedPeasant]

Years ago on FR, someone posted a fascinating article applying the Theory of Relativity to the age of the universe. Something like this:

• Time, like Space, is expanding.
• Time location, like Space location, is relative.
• Viewed from our location in space-time, the beginning of the universe appears to be 14 billion years away from us.
• Viewed from the beginning of the universe, our location appears to be 6,000 years away from the beginning of the universe.

The article included math for converting the measurement of time from one relative position to the other.

[I-ambush]

The Chambers Brothers
There’s an oldie, but looking at it now, the lyrics read like a rap song.

[cloudmountain]

Isn't it odd how a full day developed into hours, minutes and seconds? I think so.
We have the Romans to thank for our calendar but clocks?
Quite an invention. I assume it started with the sundial, measurement of the day.

[higgmeister]

I only clicked to see if anyone else had the perfect answer!

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

It’s just a jump to the left.......

[circlecity]

Time is the moving picture of eternity.

[BraveMan]

You know I can’t imagine why we all have time enough to cry.

[Iscool]

If it’s all relative out there, then if time slows down as an object speeds up, does time actually stop altogether at some point or do you have to keep recalibrating time?

If Einstein was correct and you traveled in a circle, you could get to where you started before you even left...

[KSCITYBOY]

BTT

[timestax]

time travel

[BlueDragon]

I learned in Beginnings, that;

Time passes much too quickly
When we're together laughing

The full 8 minute version here [youtube audio]