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FQXi FORUM
September 2, 2010

CATEGORY: The Nature of Time Essay Contest [back]
TOPIC: An Overview of the Nature of Time by Brian Fraser [refresh]
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Brian Fraser wrote on Nov. 10, 2008 @ 14:45 GMT
Essay Abstract

The author gives his own explicit definition of time, and then goes on to demonstrate the strange but factual consequences of this definition. Finally, he suggests that a thorough understanding of this topic is vital to significant advances in technology.

Author Bio

Brian Fraser holds an Associate degree in General Science. He has worked as a Systems Engineer doing automation and machine control for about 20 years, mostly in the semiconductor industry. He is currently a registered and certified sterile processing technician and works at a local hospital.

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Myke wrote on Nov. 10, 2008 @ 23:19 GMT
Interesting ideas, worth a read...

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Paul Valletta wrote on Nov. 11, 2008 @ 11:06 GMT
One can investigate time from a number of interesting questions, as yout paper shows. I tend to start by asking myself this question:Where is Richard Feynmans "past", now? ;)

great paper.

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John Merryman wrote on Nov. 11, 2008 @ 19:57 GMT
Brian,

"We all

seem to be on the same clock, and so whatever embodiment we are looking for must be grand

in scope, probably Universal. It must be a physical non-thing, kind of like a zero for Roman

numerals ("Why would you need a number to represent nothing?"). The locational aspect of

time seems to help here. Time must not merely progress, it must expand (increasing the time

separation between locations). The expansion must be centerless spatially so that there is no

locatable master source or inverse square effect. But since time is non-local in a spatial

reference system, this requirement is met naturally."

Absolute zero.

The problem with geometry is that zero is assumed to be the center point of the three dimensional coordinate system, but 1+(-1) doesn't mean the center point on some line, it means nothing, as in the blank sheet of paper. In this blank space, there could be any number of essential reference points.

Temperature is the average level of motion, against a general scale. If this motion is stable, it can be represented as a point. Time, on the other hand, is a unit of motion. So the only dimensionless point of motion is the complete absence of it. Absolute zero.

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Dr. E (The Real McCoy) wrote on Nov. 16, 2008 @ 18:42 GMT
Hello Brian!

Enjoyed your paper!

I especially enjoyed your section on the EPR Paradox starting on page 3, where you write:

"Spatial motion moves an object from one place to another place. So we should ask this question about time. Can an object also have a temporal place, and can it move from one

temporal place to another? Remember, these temporal places cannot be seen...

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Brian Fraser wrote on Nov. 23, 2008 @ 03:59 GMT
Dr. E. :

Thank you for your comments about the ideas in my essay! I am glad you enjoyed it.

I read yours too, and my first reaction was, Wow!, there are a lot of similar ideas here. You state that time as an emergent phenomena can explain "diverse phenomena from relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics" and that "time dilation, the equivalence of mass and energy,...

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Dr. E (The Real McCoy) wrote on Nov. 23, 2008 @ 23:16 GMT
Hello Brian,

Love your words!

You write--"When I sit here at my desk, my change in spatial displacement relative to the walls of the room is zero. Therefore my speed is zero, because the numerator in the speed calculation is zero. But time is still progressing. So my speed cannot really be zero, because the time in the denominator is still changing. This was addressed historically by...

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Brian Fraser wrote on Nov. 25, 2008 @ 06:22 GMT
Whew! Here is what I am getting out of all this:

Brian Green: " . . .not only can spatial dimensions share an object’s motion, but the time dimension can share this motion as well."

Dr. E.: "the time measured on your watch—the ticking seconds—is not the fourth dimension, but it is a phenomenon that emerges because the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial...

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Brian Fraser wrote on Nov. 28, 2008 @ 03:51 GMT
I'd like to thank everyone who read my essay, even if they did not comment on it. Reading essays is a lot of work, especially when they are this technical. Your efforts are appreciated!

I wrote this essay for two reasons. First, Fqxi.org has a noble cause in promoting foundational physics outside the mainstream physics community. It seems to be adequately organized, and adequately funded....

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Chuck Sweet wrote on Jul. 15, 2009 @ 05:56 GMT
Pardon me for being a mathematical layman, but from what I can tell you gentlemen have given a possible definition of what 'Dark Matter/Energy' is: concentrations of mass in a different fram of temporal expansion. It's gravity, being instantaneous would exhibit the effects that we appear to see on mass in our own frame of temporal expansion yet we would not be able to see the photons that come from it because it is expanding at a different energy potential: one that does not interact with our own mass since it is in a totally different time location.

Your explanations would also appear to have a proof with what we know of Black Holes, in that the effects of the gravity from these objects exert a temporal force on the photons that is faster than the spatial motions of said photons, in essence, greater mass is equal to faster time effects in a spatial view. This also provides a mechanism for Hawkings Evaporation of said Black Holes in that they may well be evaporating in a temporal expansion via gravity. It may well be that while it takes more energy to increase one's speed in a spatial frame of reference, it may take LESS and Less energy to travel what appears to us to be faster in a temporal frame of reference. This may actually be the way that gravity operates: objects will settle towards the direction that takes the least energy, thus moving Towards the greater mass.

I may be totally wrong with my surmises kicked up by your discussion in the 15 minutes it took me to read them, but it certainly provides possibilities for modeling and food for thought does it not?? I thank you for your enlightening me (and expanding my temporal view of the Universe)

I can be reached at chucksweet@myway.com for e-mail

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Chuck Sweet wrote on Jul. 16, 2009 @ 14:23 GMT
I had it pointed out to me that I had my symbols wrong, that time Slows Down in greater gravity fields due to the acceleration and Einstein's Theorem of General Relativity. Time in a greater gravity field would appear to be slower compared to our frame of reference however, objects would still settle to their lowest energy potential within the gravitational/temporal frame so rather than appearing faster, as I wrote above, they would appear to us to be Slower. Besides this, the other surmises would likely still hold true

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Brian Fraser wrote on Jul. 18, 2009 @ 08:58 GMT
Regarding Chuck Sweet's comments:

Thank you for refering to your comments here via the Cosmic Log forum (http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/13/1995171.a
spx )

In my previous blog I stated: "This also implies that there may be a whole class of objects out there that we cannot see, but which are giving hints of their existence, to a mostly unwilling audience." I do NOT...

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David W wrote on Jul. 18, 2009 @ 17:47 GMT
This gibberish of this article tells us far more about the author's ignorance of science, and physics in particular, than about the nature of time itself. His concepts of motion are far more immature, devoid of realism, than anything the ancient Greeks thought of.

If the author really wants to understand time he'll need to learn and do the mathematics of physics. Physics is not done in prose. It is obvious that the author is proudly ignorant of Albert Einstein's theories of relativity.

The entire article is a fairy tale. At best the author is simply intellectually lazy. At worst he dupes the reader to believe in his own self-delusion, self-con.

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