Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Time
The theory of general relativity tells us that time itself is relative. That is, time passes at different rates depending on the position of the observer (See Wikipedia entry). If we apply this, admittedly a bit inappropriately, to our everyday lives it puts things into an new perspective. From this perspective we find less importance in the speed with which we accomplish goals and can, instead, focus on the quality of those goals. We can focus on advancing our own intellect, and the overall intellect of humanity, instead of racing to jump through the hoops of a prescribed life. I think it's time to strive to be the proverbial tortoise, instead of the hare.
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3 comments:
Jon:
I undoubtedly agree with your thesis, but how you got there is pretty, uh, stretch-y.
First of all, you're talking about special--not general--relativity. Whatever. But second, SR says not that "time passes at different rates depending on the position of the observer" but rather that "time APPEARS to pass at different rates depending on the RELATIVE VELOCITIES of observers." The difference is not trivial. The dude traveling upwards in the spaceship in the twin paradox feels like time is passing exactly normally for him, but to him, his twin seems to be doing things in slow motion. The guy on the ground feels like time is passing exactly normally for him, but his twin in the rocket seems to be doing things in slow motion. No matter which frame you're in, time is always "going by" at exactly the same rate. The "relativity" of time only deals with how things APPEAR to an observer MOVING with respect to the object.
Sorry for the professorial tone. I'm a physicist, I can't help it.
Physics quibbling aside, I think we can both agree: stop running around for the sake of running around, slow down and make the most of your brain and talents. Or something like that. Capisce?
@ trogonpete
The spaceship example you gave is an example of time dilation due to relative inertia which is indeed found in special relativity, but, gravitational time dilation is found in general relativity. That is that the twin at the top of a tall tower will age relatively slower than the one at the bottom. Also, gravitational time delay is predicted in the theory of general relativity, although not observed until the 1960's. I chose to only speak of general relativity because it seems to be more familiar to more people.
And my point was (put simply) the perceived progression of your life is relative to your circumstances and can't be compared to others. What some see as a waste of time is an opinion from their perspective and irrelevant to anyone else, the same activities could seem beneficial to others with different a different perspective.
JonD:
Indeed. I was misled [my, not your, mistake] by your reference to the twin paradox [which is resolved by GR but is a paradox in SR]. Maybe use this reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_time_dilation
[and, not "relative inertia" since inertia in physics is equivalent to mass, and it's relative velocity that SR talks about]
So, nice analogy. I'm deeply opposed to some one-size-fits-all measure of life "progress."
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