"Does time really flow? If it does, what actually is flowing? And how fast does this time-stuff flow? Does time really have an arrow? Space, for example, does not appear to have an inherent arrow -- to an astronaut in the dark recesses of the cosmos, left and right, back and forth, and up and down, would all be on equal footing -- so where would an arrow of time come from? If there is an arrow of time, is it absolute? Or are there things that can evolve in a direction opposite to the way time's arrow seems to point?
"Does time really flow? If it does, what actually is flowing? And how fast does this time-stuff flow? Does time really have an arrow? Space, for example, does not appear to have an inherent arrow -- to an astronaut in the dark recesses of the cosmos, left and right, back and forth, and up and down, would all be on equal footing -- so where would an arrow of time come from? If there is an arrow of time, is it absolute? Or are there things that can evolve in a direction opposite to the way time's arrow seems to point?
"The perspective should make you scratch your head. The 'outside' perspective of the figure, in which we're looking at the whole universe, all of space at every moment of time, is a fictitious vantage point, one that none of us will ever have. We are all within spacetime. Every experience you or I ever have occurs at some location in space at some moment of time. And since [the loaf-of-bread depiction] is meant to depict all of spacetime, it encompasses the totality of such experiences -- yours, mine, and those of everyone and everything. If you could zoom in and closely examine all the comings and goings on planet earth, you'd be able to see Alexander the Great having a lesson with Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci laying the final brushstroke on the Mona Lisa, and George Washington crossing the Delaware; as you continued scanning the image from left to right, you'd be able to see your grandmother playing as a little girl, your father celebrating his tenth birthday, and your own first day at school; looking yet farther to the right in the image, you could see yourself reading this book, the birth of your great-great-granddaughter, and, a little farther on, her inauguration as President. Given the coarse resolution ... you can't actually see these moments, but you can see the (schematic) history of the sun and planet earth, from their birth out of a coalescing gas cloud to the earth's demise when the sun swells into a red giant. It's all there."
"Does time really flow? If it does, what actually is flowing? And how fast does this time-stuff flow? Does time really have an arrow? Space, for example, does not appear to have an inherent arrow -- to an astronaut in the dark recesses of the cosmos, left and right, back and forth, and up and down, would all be on equal footing -- so where would an arrow of time come from? If there is an arrow of time, is it absolute? Or are there things that can evolve in a direction opposite to the way time's arrow seems to point?
"The perspective should make you scratch your head. The 'outside' perspective of the figure, in which we're looking at the whole universe, all of space at every moment of time, is a fictitious vantage point, one that none of us will ever have. We are all within spacetime. Every experience you or I ever have occurs at some location in space at some moment of time. And since [the loaf-of-bread depiction] is meant to depict all of spacetime, it encompasses the totality of such experiences -- yours, mine, and those of everyone and everything. If you could zoom in and closely examine all the comings and goings on planet earth, you'd be able to see Alexander the Great having a lesson with Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci laying the final brushstroke on the Mona Lisa, and George Washington crossing the Delaware; as you continued scanning the image from left to right, you'd be able to see your grandmother playing as a little girl, your father celebrating his tenth birthday, and your own first day at school; looking yet farther to the right in the image, you could see yourself reading this book, the birth of your great-great-granddaughter, and, a little farther on, her inauguration as President. Given the coarse resolution ... you can't actually see these moments, but you can see the (schematic) history of the sun and planet earth, from their birth out of a coalescing gas cloud to the earth's demise when the sun swells into a red giant. It's all there."
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