Is time an abstract concept?

__________ · Post by **__________** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:07 pm

Well

Had a phat argument about this at college today, lots of different opinions on this one.

You lot seem pretty philosphical, what do you reckon?

rickyricardo · Post by **rickyricardo** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:12 pm

of course time is abstract.

can you touch it?

can you smell it?

can you taste it?

That is the definition of "abstract", after all

2. expressing a quality or characteristic apart from any specific object or instance, as justice, poverty, and speed.

komega · Post by **komega** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:44 pm

time is a human interpretation of the universe's natural tendency toward entropy.

since the universe does not move toward entropy at a regular or predictable rate, our attempt to attach a linear progression of 'moments' is much like any other human endeavor: pointless and full of err.

__________ · Post by **__________** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:46 pm

I was trying to convince the dudes on my course that time doesn't exist, and you can't draw a perfect circle but they weren't having any of it! I was told to fuck off.

komega · Post by **komega** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:56 pm

£10 Bag wrote:I was trying to convince the dudes on my course that time doesn't exist, and you can't draw a perfect circle but they weren't having any of it! I was told to fuck off.

their loss.

i'm wit ya

pompende · Post by **pompende** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:11 pm

you can talk all the shit you want about this but you still have to be in class on time dont you?

youre right about not being able to draw a perfect circle. no question about that.

also. i reckon anyone who uses sequencers for drumbeats is a neoplatonist. what do u think?

__________ · Post by **__________** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:15 pm

pompende wrote:you can talk all the shit you want about this but you still have to be in class on time dont you?

No, I have to be in class when the sun is aligned at a certain point with the earth.

As for neoplatonists, I have no idea what you mean. Must be alot of them about though.

rickyricardo · Post by **rickyricardo** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:18 pm

komega wrote:time is a human interpretation of the universe's natural tendency toward entropy.

That's not how time was originally conceived. Early man had no conception of a universe or entropy. Time was a way to segment the day and provide a collective frame of reference

£10 Bag wrote: I was trying to convince the dudes on my course that time doesn't exist, and you can't draw a perfect circle but they weren't having any of it! I was told to fuck off.

If you mean "existence" in the same sense that I exist right now, in this room, in front of this computer then you'd be right.

But maybe we should differentiate between something having a material "existence" and something having a social "existence". Kind of like the definition I pasted, things like "justice", "poverty", and "speed" don't have a material existence. You can't burn poverty or drink justice. But, nonetheless they are concepts that are accepted widely and manifest themselves in the material world. So I guess my arguement is that b/c such concepts are manifested materially, then they do count as having an existence....just a different kind of existence is all.

__________ · Post by **__________** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:25 pm

Yeah I see where you (and the dudes on my course) are coming from, and obviously I wouldn't have got this far in life if I couldn't tell the time.

Maybe there is no future or past, and everything is simply present?

Anyone read 'a short history of space and time' by Microsoft Sam (aka Stephen Hawking)? I got it but I'll be damned if I can make any sense of it!

pompende · Post by **pompende** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:25 pm

£10 Bag wrote:
pompende wrote:you can talk all the shit you want about this but you still have to be in class on time dont you?
No, I have to be in class when the sun is aligned at a certain point with the earth.

does your class really do that? i mean, that would obviously mean that the clock on the wall in your class would read differently at the start of every class, which seems like a huge inconvenience for anyone not desperate to challenge orthodox ideologies...

£10 Bag wrote:As for neoplatonists, I have no idea what you mean. Must be alot of them about though.

you know? people who believe in ideal forms that can only be imitated and aspired towards here on this broken earth.
the neo part means that you dont live in classical greece.

pompende · Post by **pompende** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:29 pm

£10 Bag wrote: Maybe there is no future or past, and everything is simply present?

im inclined to believe this, mostly because it makes my life easier.

£10 Bag wrote: Anyone read 'a short history of space and time' by Microsoft Sam (aka Stephen Hawking)? I got it but I'll be damned if I can make any sense of it!

you might want to start out with some basic astronomy first. like, learn about orbits, and why we have summer time versus winter time.
also, einstein's special relativity should give you some fun, easy concepts about time to get excited about.

__________ · Post by **__________** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:55 pm

Nah fuck that, I read A History of Western Philosophy and that was plenty heavy enough for me!

I'm not a retard, I understand why we have seasons, but Microsoft Sam's book is a different ball game, have you seen it?! Its even weirder because how can he write when he's paralysed?

The more I know about it, the more its gonna piss me off, because there's certainly no correct answer.
Learning about time and space would just send me insane quicker.

x10

__________ · Post by **__________** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:58 pm

im majorly spun out now. who was it that said everything is infinite? im starting to believe that shit, im infinitely confused

Jubz · Post by **Jubz** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:43 pm

I've been thinking about time recently, this is probably offtopic but fuck it: the system of time we live by is imperfect I mean we have to have leap years every four years to ensure that we stay in sync. I find it a bit strange that everything we do, every date we set, every minute we count, that something SO intrinsic an important to human existence is basically faulty.

Jubz · Post by **Jubz** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:44 pm

It makes me wonder, what is the true representation of time? or does time only exist as a reflection of our imperfections?

pompende · Post by **pompende** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:50 pm

1 thing i seem to become more convinced of every day: everyone is extremely unhappy and disatisfied with everything.

i think that the imperfection of our time system is a good synechdochic example of the general imperfection of the human experience.

now way around this really...just gotta hit the ball when you can i reckon.

thomas · Post by **thomas** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:13 am

Who cares, this is purley academic.

I mean i study Cultural therories, which are rather pointless, but this time debate is even more pointless. No offence, but i just choose to put my time into somthing which has more real world aplication and can effect things...

Like weather or not, people simply copy society because they feel thats how they should behave as a black,gay,muslim working class male.......

-blade- · Post by **-blade-** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:50 am

dunno but it is relative... colors are relative, speed is relative, at least in my eyes... realtime? -
its kind of an information therefore not abstract everything is kind of an information.

misk · Post by **misk** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:21 am

time does not exist. sit in an asana in a state of no-mind long enough and you'll know.

we exist in all times, and all places, in a multiverse of lifetimes simultaneously. thus, i have "past life memories" of future lives. one could argue that this is what deja vu is.

my approach to time is based more on "spiritual" perceptions than "scientific" ones. i do not fully believe in the religion of thought.

showguns · Post by **showguns** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:55 am

time can lick my balls

Is time an abstract concept?

Is time an abstract concept?

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