On 4 February 2014 17:06, <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Monday, February 3, 2014 11:29:11 PM UTC, Liz R wrote: >> >> On 4 February 2014 12:23, Jesse Mazer <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 5:48 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> But more generically speaking, would this inference for blocktime sit >>>> at the edge of relativity or at its core. What I mean is, beyond that it is >>>> an implication of relativity, have there been or are there any >>>> prospects for developing blocktime as it arises from relativity to such >>>> point, predictions get made? Or any other kind of reinforcement? Or does >>>> blocktime go on to imply something beyond blocktime? >>>> >>> >>> If "block time" is taken as a definite ontological statement about all >>> times "existing" in exactly the same sense, rather than just referring to >>> the idea of treating time as a dimension conceptually or in our >>> mathematical models, then I think it's a metaphysical postulate that goes >>> beyond anything directly implied by relativity. Relativity says that all >>> frames, with their different definitions of simultaneity, are on equal >>> footing as far as the laws of physics are concerned, but it doesn't deal >>> with ontology. If someone proposes that one frame's definition of >>> simultaneity is "metaphysically preferred" in the sense it defines the >>> "true present", but adds the caveat that this frame is not in any way >>> physically preferred so that no conceivable experiment could determine >>> which frame it is, this wouldn't contradict the physics. It would be an >>> "interpretation" of SR, similar to the different "interpretations" of QM >>> which postulate different things about ontology (the real existence of >>> other worlds in the MWI, or a single world with hidden variables in Bohmian >>> mechanics, for example) but are indistinguishable experimentally. >>> >> >> SR directly demonstrates block time via the relativity of simultaneity. >> This can be tested experimentally. >> > > Liz, do you say above: > > - blocktime can be tested experimentally > > - relativity of simultaneity can be tested experimentally and blocktime is > inferred from relativity simultaneity >
The latter. (However, as an integral part of SR block time is as experimentally verified as other consequences - Fitzgerald contraction and time dilation, for example.) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
