LIz, No, no, no! Treating time as a dimension is NOT (by definition) block time. That's a complete misrepresentation of block time because it is quite possible, and also correct, to treat time as a dimension IN WHICH a present moment moves along that time dimension. In the actual real world both clock time and p-time flow. There is NO FLOW of time in block time.
Block time has absolutely no concept of a present moment, and absolutely NO way to explain why everyone experiences a present moment, why they are in one and only one point of their timeline in those 4 dimensions. As Stephen says "block time is a BS theory". Edgar On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 2:12:02 AM UTC-5, Liz R wrote: > > On 4 February 2014 17:11, <[email protected] <javascript:>> wrote: > >> >> On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 12:19:42 AM UTC, Liz R wrote: >> >>> On 4 February 2014 12:44, Edgar L. Owen <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Liz, >>>> >>>> You keep repeating your UNSUBSTANTIATED claim that both Newton and >>>> Einstein believed in block time. >>>> >>> >>> It isn't a question of belief. Newtonian and Einsteinian machanics both >>> imply the existence of a block universe. >>> >> >> How does it derive from the Newtonian picture? I don't seem to get the >> visualization ...can ye help :O) >> > > Newton treated time as a dimension in which the positions of particles > changed smoothly under applied forces. Treating time as a dimension is (by > definition) block time. > >> >>> I've repeatedly asked you to substantiate this claim with some actual >>>> quotes from them but you have been unable to do so. >>>> >>> Please provide quotes substantiating this or withdraw the claim. That's >>>> only fair... >>>> >>> >>> Obviously Newton didn't use that phrase. Equally obviously it's implied >>> by his equations, as Laplace realised. >>> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace%27s_demon >>> >>> We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its >>> past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment >>> would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all >>> items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough >>> to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the >>> movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest >>> atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just >>> like the past would be present before its eyes. >>> —Pierre Simon Laplace, *A Philosophical Essay on >>> Probabilities*[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace%27s_demon#cite_note-Truscott-3> >>> >>> >> Liz - are you saying then, that cause and effect implies blocktime, or do >> I get that wrong? >> > > The "clockwork universe" view implied that the positions of all its > constituents at all times can be calculated. This is equivalent to a > picture of a static 4D structure. > >> However, Newton's mechanics only imply a block universe (actually it > was apparently Galileo who originally came up with this worldview). > > Einstein made it explicit. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
