THE BLOCK UNIVERSE
In the block universe view, time exists like a landscape, past, present and future
exist together superimposed in different dimensions. This means dinosaurs are still
alive and so are multiple copies of you and the whole universe in past and in the future.
This view was reinforced by an interpretation of Einstein’s General Relativity in which
time extends as the fourth dimension from the past to the future. Lack of simultaneity
in Einstein's relativity also promotes this view as then we can explain the Andromeda
paradox as an alternative reality existing in a different time dimension.
"People like us who believe in physics know
that the distinction between the past, the present
and the future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion"
Albert Einstein
Space time curvature in relativity can simply be thought of as a curvature in a
higher dimension where time is slow and not a time dimension. It also can be shown
that simultaneity is preserved as moving objects seem to drag photons as seen clearly
in photon acceleration caused by moving plasmas.
In the block universe view, time exists like a landscape, past, present and future
exist together superimposed in different dimensions. This means dinosaurs are still
alive and so are multiple copies of you and the whole universe in past and in the future.
This view was reinforced by an interpretation of Einstein’s General Relativity in which
time extends as the fourth dimension from the past to the future. Lack of simultaneity
in Einstein's relativity also promotes this view as then we can explain the Andromeda
paradox as an alternative reality existing in a different time dimension.
"People like us who believe in physics know
that the distinction between the past, the present
and the future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion"
Albert Einstein
Space time curvature in relativity can simply be thought of as a curvature in a
higher dimension where time is slow and not a time dimension. It also can be shown
that simultaneity is preserved as moving objects seem to drag photons as seen clearly
in photon acceleration caused by moving plasmas.
PROBLEMS WITH THE BLOCK UNIVERSE
Block universe theory or the static theory of time presents a few problems and paradoxes which
need to be examined. Time is supposedly laid out as time scape similar to landscape. Future
already exists and there cannot be a free will. Even in the smallest duration of time there should
be infinite number of copies of everything including the whole universe.
How do we explain the origin of universe in a block universe as all parts of the block universe
exist all the time. If there is a big bang in block universe then even now it exists. If time-scape is
already laid out then what causes us to perceive these events and what is moving through this
time-scape? Is our consciousness moving across time? What makes it move and why we cannot
willfully move it anywhere in time? We will need some new age physics or metaphysics to explain
how our consciousness moves through time.
Block universe is a great boon for new agers and pseudoscience. It provides a venue for
palmistry future predictions dreams etc. Similar ideas are proposed by some in Quantum physics.
When choices are made the universe divides. We cannot explain a single universe properly, just
imagine billions of people making choices across the universe creating billions of universes with
just an act of making a choice mentally.
Block universe theory or the static theory of time presents a few problems and paradoxes which
need to be examined. Time is supposedly laid out as time scape similar to landscape. Future
already exists and there cannot be a free will. Even in the smallest duration of time there should
be infinite number of copies of everything including the whole universe.
How do we explain the origin of universe in a block universe as all parts of the block universe
exist all the time. If there is a big bang in block universe then even now it exists. If time-scape is
already laid out then what causes us to perceive these events and what is moving through this
time-scape? Is our consciousness moving across time? What makes it move and why we cannot
willfully move it anywhere in time? We will need some new age physics or metaphysics to explain
how our consciousness moves through time.
Block universe is a great boon for new agers and pseudoscience. It provides a venue for
palmistry future predictions dreams etc. Similar ideas are proposed by some in Quantum physics.
When choices are made the universe divides. We cannot explain a single universe properly, just
imagine billions of people making choices across the universe creating billions of universes with
just an act of making a choice mentally.
THE ABSENCE OF TIME TRAVELLERS
If concept of block universe is correct then there should exist future civilizations millions or
billions of years more technologically advanced then us. At least some of them should be capable
of time travel. We should have seen some evidence for that, unless there is some law of universe
which prohibits time travel.
Then there is the possibility of time travel paradoxes including the grandfather paradox in
which a person travels to the past and kills his grandfather thereby changing the future so that the
time traveler would not exist and thus not travel to the past to kill his grandfather.
If concept of block universe is correct then there should exist future civilizations millions or
billions of years more technologically advanced then us. At least some of them should be capable
of time travel. We should have seen some evidence for that, unless there is some law of universe
which prohibits time travel.
Then there is the possibility of time travel paradoxes including the grandfather paradox in
which a person travels to the past and kills his grandfather thereby changing the future so that the
time traveler would not exist and thus not travel to the past to kill his grandfather.
SUMMARY
Time is a real phenomenon and in some ways it feels laid out like a Block Universe however the way we perceive time is an illusion. Only
present is real, Past is just recorded memory and future does not exist. Simultaneity is preserved as shown by photon acceleration by moving
plasmas. This along with absence of time travellers and paradoxes involved with concept of time travel shows that there is no Block Universe.
Significantly our most real feeling of time "present" is duration less and cannot be measured in units of time. Present being a sharp point
has remarkable resemblance to the recording laser or needle. Past and future which cannot be accessed are measurable durations just like
extensions of a recorded material or unrecorded CD or tape. Past also has time characteristic of made up stories again suggesting that it is
just memory. This certainly does not mean that time does not exist, all this suggests is that the way we perceive time is an illusion.
Time is a real phenomenon and in some ways it feels laid out like a Block Universe however the way we perceive time is an illusion. Only
present is real, Past is just recorded memory and future does not exist. Simultaneity is preserved as shown by photon acceleration by moving
plasmas. This along with absence of time travellers and paradoxes involved with concept of time travel shows that there is no Block Universe.
Significantly our most real feeling of time "present" is duration less and cannot be measured in units of time. Present being a sharp point
has remarkable resemblance to the recording laser or needle. Past and future which cannot be accessed are measurable durations just like
extensions of a recorded material or unrecorded CD or tape. Past also has time characteristic of made up stories again suggesting that it is
just memory. This certainly does not mean that time does not exist, all this suggests is that the way we perceive time is an illusion.
| Life is a journey enslaved in time Except for these few moments which are free |
SIMULTANEITY
The thought experiment depicted in the drawing on the left
deals with simultaneity. A space ship is moving at a high velocity
from left to right. According to relativity speed of light should be
constant for the observer within the ship as well as the stationary
observer on the ground.
Light rays sent simultaneously from the front and back of the
ship will meet in the center of the ship for the observer within the
ship. While for the non moving observer on the ground the light
pulses should meet more towards the back of the ship.
This information could be used to set up an experiment so that
a cat is shot by a gun if the rays of light do not meet in the center.
(lucky for the cat).
So for the observer in the ship the light rays meet in the center
so the cat should be alive while for the observer on the ground the
cat should be dead as the light rays do not meet in the center.
The thought experiment depicted in the drawing on the left
deals with simultaneity. A space ship is moving at a high velocity
from left to right. According to relativity speed of light should be
constant for the observer within the ship as well as the stationary
observer on the ground.
Light rays sent simultaneously from the front and back of the
ship will meet in the center of the ship for the observer within the
ship. While for the non moving observer on the ground the light
pulses should meet more towards the back of the ship.
This information could be used to set up an experiment so that
a cat is shot by a gun if the rays of light do not meet in the center.
(lucky for the cat).
So for the observer in the ship the light rays meet in the center
so the cat should be alive while for the observer on the ground the
cat should be dead as the light rays do not meet in the center.
Which point of view is correct. Is the cat alive or dead? One way of solving this problem would be to say
that the firing mechanism will obey the laws within the moving ship so the cat will be alive. This means that
point of view of the non moving observer on the ground is superfluous. This point is clearly shown to be
correct by photon acceleration caused by moving plasmas showing that simultaneity is preserved so
there is no need for the block universe.
Later on in this website you will see how moving objects curve space setting up a time differential.
Massless particles are dragged forward in the time differential making the point of view of the observer
within the object correct.
that the firing mechanism will obey the laws within the moving ship so the cat will be alive. This means that
point of view of the non moving observer on the ground is superfluous. This point is clearly shown to be
correct by photon acceleration caused by moving plasmas showing that simultaneity is preserved so
there is no need for the block universe.
Later on in this website you will see how moving objects curve space setting up a time differential.
Massless particles are dragged forward in the time differential making the point of view of the observer
within the object correct.
| Rotating buckets and twin paradox reveal importance of motion through sapce |
| Moving objects also curve spacetime |
| WHAT TIME IS NOT |
Before we go any further into the consequences of the new way of understanding
the phenomenon of time we need to clarify some misconceptions about time which
have primarily arisen because of feeling of flow of time and then have been sustained
by misinterpretation of space curvature in a higher dimension caused by large
masses as a dimension in time through which we could travel.
the phenomenon of time we need to clarify some misconceptions about time which
have primarily arisen because of feeling of flow of time and then have been sustained
by misinterpretation of space curvature in a higher dimension caused by large
masses as a dimension in time through which we could travel.