Our perception of time

[Epohs]

I've been thinking a lot about the universe and time lately and this odd thought just keeps coming back to me so just lend me your ears for a minute and tell me what you think..

The human race obviously bases it's life offhe cycle of the Earth. This creates the illusion of time which we have evolved and adapted our lives to fit. Now let's say that there is, in fact, intelligent life on some far off planet in a distant galaxy. Isn't It possible that these other forms of life could think, live, and move slower or faster based on how fast their planet is revolving or orbitting the sun. Is it possible to fit more life into a certain amount of time? Is time just an illusion created by the mind or is it a legitimate thing?

[sikander]

I think part of it is related to our chemistry. The human body (or really, any kind of animal body) is a frighteningly complex chemical interaction. I think that the overall rate at which the chemistry which makes us alive happens sets the pace.

It's an interesting thought that other kinds of life with a different chemistry might perceive time differently.

[comeoriginal740]

Our satellites in space have clocks on them . . . which read diffrent times than those on earth, depending on where you are in space time is literally diffrent. if you travel at the speed of light for about an hour you move a few dozen years into the future. FUCKS WITH YOUR MIND HUH. black holes time nearly stops. Time Space is insane read about it.

[sikander]

Actually, a natural consequence of Einstein's theory of special relativity is that you can't move at the speed of light, because if you do the answers stop making sense.

There's a particular point in the math called a Lorentz transformation where if you set velocity to exactly c, you have to divide by zero (and if you set it to greater than c you start needing to use complex numbers, which have no meaningful physical value, which is why you can't go faster than light, either). Divisions by zero are, by definition, undefined. You cannot assign a value to them, which you can ignore until you start trying to make that work for things that have mass.

[Fumo.Bevo]

i definitely think that other species could experience life on a completely different scale. think about how much our perception of time can change simply due to mood, what's going on around you, drugs, etc. the rate at which we perceive the passage of time is not constant.

[comeoriginal740]

humans will die if moved that fast but the particle accellerator moves particles faster than light am i correct? maybe not

[nuentoter]

think about mice and roaches and hummingbirds, think realy really think of their perception of time. or a giant tortoise that lives hundreds of years.

[kinetic being]

Originally Posted by sikander

I think part of it is related to our chemistry. The human body (or really, any kind of animal body) is a frighteningly complex chemical interaction. I think that the overall rate at which the chemistry which makes us alive happens sets the pace.

So the questions of our time, therefore are: can biology be reduced to chemistry? And can chemistry be reduced to physics?

[sikander]

^ Everything's physics when you get detailed enough.

Originally Posted by comeoriginal740

humans will die if moved that fast but the particle accellerator moves particles faster than light am i correct? maybe not

No, they accelerate them to very near the speed of light but never quite. Even for something as small as a particle the rules still hold.

[Medicine Al]

When I was 5, an hour could seem to be three days long, in my mind. Especially if I was stuck somewhere I'd rather not be, it sure seemed like every minute was huge.

A few decades later, and a three day long weekend visit with my daughter and grand-daughters seems to me like an hour. Especially when I never want to be away from them, but I have to go home. (which I love also.)

Perception is everything, time is elastic in the mind. Don't pay too much attention to the dots and lines, they are arbitrary.

[GreenHit23]

I don't like our 24 hour cycle...

I never get enough sleep...

[bkadoctaj]

Originally Posted by GreenHit23

I don't like our 24 hour cycle...

I never get enough sleep...

My psychology teacher in 11th grade told the class that the natural human rhythm is 25 hours long.

Originally Posted by kinetic being

So the questions of our time, therefore are: can biology be reduced to chemistry? And can chemistry be reduced to physics?

And physics can be reduced to math... and math can be reduced to numbers... and numbers can be reduced to symbols... and symbols can be reduced to stimuli... and...what are you but the things that stimulate you?

[Maitereya]

theres some strange videos on the theory of relativity on youtube. it boggles my mind

[AD0123]

Time is real but our perception changes all the time. One of the best examples is if you travel through space in a space ship traveling billions of miles per hour and come back to earth in 10 years, you will not have aged but everyone else will be 10 years older. Also the record for traveling into the future is .02 seconds. You can also view movement as traveling into the future by an immeasurable amount.

[bkadoctaj]

Originally Posted by AD0123

Time is real but our perception changes all the time. One of the best examples is if you travel through space in a space ship traveling billions of miles per hour and come back to earth in 10 years, you will not have aged but everyone else will be 10 years older. Also the record for traveling into the future is .02 seconds. You can also view movement as traveling into the future by an immeasurable amount.

Trippy shit.