The Fourth Dimension
Before the twentieth century many people believed that every person experienced only three dimensions. This included most physicists who described the world within mathematics as mainly three dimensional and that time was absolute. In the beginning of the twentieth century came the reformulation of the basic principle of physics. This was the theory of special relativity.
The great mind of Albert Einstein has introduced to the world that time is no different than space, they are interchangeable. For example, what if you had an appointment in the heart of Manhattan? You are given instructions to meet someone as follows. Go to the corner of Fourth Street and Ninetieth Street. Then proceed in the building up to the tenth floor. Here you were given the three spatial directions to meet someone. However, you might be standing there for eternity because you never had the indication of when you were suppose to meet someone. Therefore, time is just as important as all three spatial dimensions.
In class discussion we talk about the arrow not moving at an instant. Now that we concluded that space and time are one in the same we have concluded that just as there no possible way to move an infinite amount of positions in a finite amount. Similarly, with time there is no way to capture an instant of a moment in a time equal to zero. This would violate the laws of special relativity. We can perceive this idea in our mind of a slice of the reality loaf and assume that it is an instant of time, but this is impossible. To capture a picture at an instant you would have to open and close you eyelids in an instant which would be physically impossible.
With the argument of Zeno I have concluded that it impossible to view an instant of a motion. It is easy to presume that at an instant something is not moving when flash the image in our mind, but with our human senses this impossible. If you looked at object moving and took a snap shot it would appear to be not moving in the photograph. The truth is that the object was moving during the time when the shutter opened and then closed. Furthermore, it is impossible to slice the reality loaf in an infinitely thin slice.
(Note: This is Chad's post.)
Before the twentieth century many people believed that every person experienced only three dimensions. This included most physicists who described the world within mathematics as mainly three dimensional and that time was absolute. In the beginning of the twentieth century came the reformulation of the basic principle of physics. This was the theory of special relativity.
The great mind of Albert Einstein has introduced to the world that time is no different than space, they are interchangeable. For example, what if you had an appointment in the heart of Manhattan? You are given instructions to meet someone as follows. Go to the corner of Fourth Street and Ninetieth Street. Then proceed in the building up to the tenth floor. Here you were given the three spatial directions to meet someone. However, you might be standing there for eternity because you never had the indication of when you were suppose to meet someone. Therefore, time is just as important as all three spatial dimensions.
In class discussion we talk about the arrow not moving at an instant. Now that we concluded that space and time are one in the same we have concluded that just as there no possible way to move an infinite amount of positions in a finite amount. Similarly, with time there is no way to capture an instant of a moment in a time equal to zero. This would violate the laws of special relativity. We can perceive this idea in our mind of a slice of the reality loaf and assume that it is an instant of time, but this is impossible. To capture a picture at an instant you would have to open and close you eyelids in an instant which would be physically impossible.
With the argument of Zeno I have concluded that it impossible to view an instant of a motion. It is easy to presume that at an instant something is not moving when flash the image in our mind, but with our human senses this impossible. If you looked at object moving and took a snap shot it would appear to be not moving in the photograph. The truth is that the object was moving during the time when the shutter opened and then closed. Furthermore, it is impossible to slice the reality loaf in an infinitely thin slice.
(Note: This is Chad's post.)
posted by Chris Tillman | 6:13 AM
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