tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post3096567477761163171..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: What Time is It? Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-56060111626701106402014-04-15T08:06:38.288-07:002014-04-15T08:06:38.288-07:00We can't know what abstract time is like, if t...<i>We can't know what abstract time is like, if there is such a thing. </i><br /><br />If "we" are involved in any way, then there can be no "abstract time." It's ruled out by definition. <br /><br />Even the cesium standard of time, however precise and useful, is arbitrary. Some alien civilization in another part of the universe could jolly well use another frequency standard as a clock. In this way, time is not measured by a perceiving subject but by some arbitrary, preferably constant, movement in the physical universe. <br /><br />It would be nice if the alien civilization were to use the identical frequency. We would then share not only a common temporal vocabulary, but a similarly felt temporal existence. Of course, we would probably organize our "chronotopes" differently, having different life-spans, mile markers, historiography, and so on, along the way.<br /><br /><i>I'm not sure it's even possible to truly imagine the space in which the premodern mind existed</i><br /><br />I believe it's important to try. The historical imagination is one of life's great pleasures, isn't it? There are times when I read about the "waters" in the dome above the earth and muse with a smile about the limitations of empirical observation and the power of shaping narratives, etc. But they were human, too, and that humanity includes skepticism, doubt, and curiosity. I like to imagine an Egyptian scribe, for example, working away at yet another sycophantic puff piece on papyrus for some dead royal ruler (an early quarter-percenter) and regarding all the metaphysics of it as conjectural.<br /><br />It would be interesting to read a History of Dead Conjectures. This would let history breathe a bit.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-89151362434296440892014-04-15T02:48:05.822-07:002014-04-15T02:48:05.822-07:00Morson suggests that it may be "misleading to...Morson suggests that it may be "misleading to assume a single temporality for all disciplines and all aspects of experience." Rather, we may require different "chronotopes" at different scales."<br /><br />And on that chrononote...USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-70389050313307639142014-04-14T19:56:23.266-07:002014-04-14T19:56:23.266-07:00This is powerful, and there are so many threads in...This is powerful, and there are so many threads in the tapestry.<br /><br /><i>Rather, we may require different "chronotopes" at different scales. </i><br /><br />As far as at different scales, that might have some validation from quantum mechanics. <br /><br />We assume the aging of any creature, but especially ourselves, is a function of time in a fairly direct relationship. Physical age and time do correlate really well in most cases.<br /><br />I remember reading <i>Outdoor Life</i> back in the '60s when Jack O'Connor was the shooting editor. I think he said it was an old Arab proverb, "God does not count against man's allotted time the days he spends hunting."<br /><br />I don't know if it is true or not, but I have seen a lot of really old hunters in exceptionally good health. Except for their hearing.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81708097606223776202014-04-14T11:49:06.827-07:002014-04-14T11:49:06.827-07:00Oh, dear. And then apparently, there's Latino ...Oh, dear. And then apparently, there's <a href="http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-county-board-chairman-apologizes-for-latino-time-comment/article_98ebab70-c302-11e3-a9ea-001a4bcf887a.html" rel="nofollow">Latino time</a>...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-62136609107335444312014-04-14T08:25:09.025-07:002014-04-14T08:25:09.025-07:00Rather, we may require different "chronotopes...<i>Rather, we may require different "chronotopes" at different scales.</i><br /><br />I'm reminded again of the mechanics of cell division, and the process by which the DNA strands split and duplicate themselves. It's a mechanism that takes place with a speed and precision that's nearly inconceivable from the human scale, but without which human life would be impossible. I can't help wondering if there would be any scale of existence where it would be possible to perceive the process in action. Then in the opposite direction, if one lived at the time scale of a redwood tree, would the stars appear to be streaking across the sky?<br /><br />I haven't gotten far in the Morson yet - my kids have their own sense of urgent time which seems to kick in the moment I pick up a book - but it is rich reading so far. Thanks for the recommendation.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.com