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The Philosophy of Time
To chalenge the Philosphy of Time we starts with four questions:
- What is an apple?
- What is time?
- What is a clock?
- What is space time?
Each of the four questions starts the same. They all start with "What is". The second part is different.
- In the first question 'What is an apple' the second part is an object. Something with has mass. This object could be anything. In this case it is a fruit.
- The second question 'What is time' is a much more difficult question. It starts already with "What is". Time is not something that is, that exists. A better question may be is: What means time? But means (i.e. meaning) is something related to humans. And time has nothing to do with us, we humans. Time is a characteristic of the existance of the universe. It is an indissolubly part of all what exists. We humans exists in time. We humans are aware of time because our surrounding is constantly changing.
- The third question 'What is a clock' is almost the same as the first question, because a clock is also an object, however completely different. An apple is a fixed object, it does incorporate any movable parts. The primary purpose of a clock is to demonstrate change, to demonstrate the progres of time. This change is not going in one direction, but more something like: from left to right, to left, to right etc. etc. in a very regular pattern. Such a regular pattern allows you to represent time by means of a number, which always increases.
A clock is a very complex pattern and the main problem for a clock is to maintain its regularity under all conditions. This is impossible when you move a clock to a different location, which implies that acceleration is involved.
Created: 9 March 2019
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