World enough and time
Turns out that time may not exist, although try explaining that to those editors so enthralled with the illusion of time that they tend to get loud and red in the face when you miss what they so charmingly refer to as "deadlines.''
And when I say that "time may not exist,'' I'm not talking about some epiphany during a bong-fueled late-night bull session at the frat house.
There are actual scientists, real smart folks, with big-time degrees, who are saying it.
Of course, these are the same people who say that space may not exist either, which at least explains why my apartment is so crowded.
Time becomes "timeless'' down at the the level of quantum mechanics, where Einsteinian physics throws a hissy fit, holding its breath and turning blue.
This, according to the June 2007 issue of Discover Magazine (p.78)
Admittedly, there are days here at the office that seem timeless, at least in the sense that time seems to stop dead in its tracks and last forever.
My wife may have a Ph.D. in physics that she's never told me about. Everytime we prepare to go out with friends, she takes just shy of forever to get ready, and after we're at last on the way, she says, "We're not late until we get there.''
It sure looks like time is real to me, and every gray hair is evidence.
But there are puzzles. In the words of that old country tune, "I'm too young to feel this damn old.''
And when I say that "time may not exist,'' I'm not talking about some epiphany during a bong-fueled late-night bull session at the frat house.
There are actual scientists, real smart folks, with big-time degrees, who are saying it.
Of course, these are the same people who say that space may not exist either, which at least explains why my apartment is so crowded.
Time becomes "timeless'' down at the the level of quantum mechanics, where Einsteinian physics throws a hissy fit, holding its breath and turning blue.
This, according to the June 2007 issue of Discover Magazine (p.78)
Admittedly, there are days here at the office that seem timeless, at least in the sense that time seems to stop dead in its tracks and last forever.
My wife may have a Ph.D. in physics that she's never told me about. Everytime we prepare to go out with friends, she takes just shy of forever to get ready, and after we're at last on the way, she says, "We're not late until we get there.''
It sure looks like time is real to me, and every gray hair is evidence.
But there are puzzles. In the words of that old country tune, "I'm too young to feel this damn old.''
posted by Michael Riley at 9:13 AM
2 Comments:
so if someone calls me a "timeless beauty", is that still a compliment? (or an insult?)...I think it's just a conspiracy against the clock/watchmakers of the world..and if there is no time, according to these scientists...do they still "fall back" 1 hour in fall and "spring forward" 1 hour in spring for DST or is it just all relative to them? Do any of them count down the seconds til New Year's Day every new Year's Eve (would they admit it to their fellow skeptic scientists?)...time to ponder these burning issues...
I know that time has to be real because of this saying:
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
You can't just make stuff like that up.
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