when is now?

when exactly is "now"? what is the shortest unit of time? when does something become the past? a billionth of a second ago is the past, a trillionth is too, so is a quadrillion and actually.........so on and so on....

really by the time we react to anything, it's already in the past and we're just catching up to it and as soon as we do, we're in the past and the next thing is already happening before we know it. by the time we realize that thing is happening, its already in the past and we're just catching up to it.

so in short, we all live in the past and the future is really just the present that we can't catch up to until it becomes the past.

Hey dude here's a link for ya.
Check it out then let it out.
http://rollitup.org/t/so-what-is-too-high.929072/unread

MisterBouncyBounce said:

when exactly is "now"? what is the shortest unit of time? when does something become the past? a billionth of a second ago is the past, a trillionth is too, so is a quadrillion and actually.........so on and so on....

really by the time we react to anything, it's already in the past and we're just catching up to it and as soon as we do, we're in the past and the next thing is already happening before we know it. by the time we realize that thing is happening, its already in the past and we're just catching up to it.

so in short, we all live in the past and the future is really just the present that we can't catch up to until it becomes the past.

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Exactly right, we can only be conscious of the past, as if we're living with a buffer of less than a second. Your post reminded me of a great book by Brian Greene, Fabric of the Cosmos. Nova made it into a cool tv series. He speaks of the concept of 'now' at about 2:35 in. This book really changed my perception of reality, and showed me that the future is real and set, just as much as the past and present. It shows that if a sentient creature was traveling toward Earth from a great distance, it would see centuries into our future. One set, objective future for anyone to see. That ruined what was left of my belief in free will, for if the future is fixed, we could only have done what we did with no room for 'choice.' Cool shit...

There is only now. The future and past are only constructs of our mind, intangible concepts. Nothing but memories and dreams effecting the reasoning of the present.

tyler.durden said:

Exactly right, we can only be conscious of the past, as if we're living with a buffer of less than a second. Your post reminded me of a great book by Brian Greene, Fabric of the Cosmos. Nova made it into a cool tv series. He speaks of the concept of 'now' at about 2:35 in. This book really changed my perception of reality, and showed me that the future is real and set, just as much as the past and present. It shows that if a sentient creature was traveling toward Earth from a great distance, it would see centuries into our future. One set, objective future for anyone to see. That ruined what was left of my belief in free will, for if the future is fixed, we could only have done what we did with no room for 'choice.' Cool shit...

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our choices are what set that future, it may seem immutable from that perspective, but in any way that matters, we're unaware of it and it has not been written yet. makes no difference if it is set in stone from that perspective, you do not have that perspective and have to make the choices that make that future, so it is not immutable until viewed from the future perspective you'll never have

time is a real thing that we travel through lineally and theres not a damn thing you can do about it. "now" is just your perception of time. we're not multidimensional beings, we can only see one facet at a time, even though all time and all events exist, we are not equipped to perceive them. does that mean we lack free will? no. time is not an unchanging thing, our actions effect it, and change our futures, and the futures of everyone around us. the traveller suggested above would see a future, but not necessarilly the same future someone travelling to earth a day later would see, as the first traveller would have an effect on the future and change it for the second traveller.....

WeedFreak78 said:

There is only now. The future and past are only constructs of our mind, intangible concepts. Nothing but memories and dreams effecting the reasoning of the present.

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I used to think that, too, but that is because we experience time in a linear fashion. But physics shows that the past and future are as real and set as our perception of the present. Crazy...

Roger A. Shrubber said:

our choices are what set that future, it may seem immutable from that perspective, but in any way that matters, we're unaware of it and it has not been written yet. makes no difference if it is set in stone from that perspective, you do not have that perspective and have to make the choices that make that future, so it is not immutable until viewed from the future perspective you'll never have

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Yes, this is how I console myself over my lack of actual free will...

Roger A. Shrubber said:

time is a real thing that we travel through lineally and theres not a damn thing you can do about it. "now" is just your perception of time. we're not multidimensional beings, we can only see one facet at a time, even though all time and all events exist, we are not equipped to perceive them.

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Right, agreed so far.

does that mean we lack free will? no. time is not an unchanging thing, our actions effect it, and change our futures, and the futures of everyone around us.

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Think of it this way - Since all time and events already exist, we are like conscious characters in a book that is already written. The characters in such a book would experience each event as it happens in a linear fashion and have the illusion of choice. But since the book is already written and finished, their choices are already made and set. Iow, things can only happen in the way they did, and the choices made are the only ones we could have made.

the traveller suggested above would see a future, but not necessarilly the same future someone travelling to earth a day later would see, as the first traveller would have an effect on the future and change it for the second traveller.....

Click to expand...

This is where we disagree. As you say, all time and events exist. Physics states all travelers that can see into our future will see the same future. It couldn't be any other way if those events have happened already. The book is written and finished, there are not endless possible endings to it. The latest findings in cognitive science supports this view on a few fronts: it is shown that we become consciously aware of our decisions a fraction of a second AFTER they're made. Since we become aware of them after they are made, our consciousness cannot be the agent responsible for making them. Another study was done where electrodes were placed on human subjects where they are asked to make a binary choice, to hit button one or button two. Right as they make a 'choice' and are going for a certain button, the electrodes apply a stimulus that forces them to change course and make the opposite choice. The interesting part of this study is that even though the buttons the subjects pushed were opposite from their original 'choice', their minds colored in that it was they who changed their own minds. Every subject experienced this coloring effect. So even when it is not we who are choosing what we do, our minds will trick us into perceiving that it is. Taking these facts into account, where is there room for free will?

Having said that, there are theories of multiple dimensions/universes where every choice we could possibly make are all played out with multiple different futures. But that is merely speculation at this point. The dimension in which we reside has only one set past and one set future. TLDR, I know. My brain hurts, I'm finna smoke a bowl...

the derivative of time? second or third or forth or infinite? the idea of time?

this is just a theory based on absolutely nothing but here's a synapse

and here's a theoretical particle type called a tachyon.
We can think of tachyons, which in my mind makes me believe that the nerves are tachyon receivers. Tachyons are particles that always move faster than light. When it's in a given location, the perception of it is in where it is heading and where it is coming from.

iHearAll said:

the derivative of time? second or third or forth or infinite? the idea of time?

this is just a theory based on absolutely nothing but here's a synapse

and here's a theoretical particle type called a tachyon.
We can think of tachyons, which in my mind makes me believe that the nerves are tachyon receivers. Tachyons are particles that always move faster than light. When it's in a given location, the perception of it is in where it is heading and where it is coming from.View attachment 3853512

Click to expand...

that's interesting, but i don't understand the animation.

interesting thread. I've always thought of now as the only thing that matters. bc we can change it. future is only an idea. a construct. the past only exists bc we can remember it.
here I am to find out (thx tyler) that both the past and future are all set in stone as it were. don't know if I can wrap my mind around that but i'm going to continue to live in the now until there aren't any more nows left.

MisterBouncyBounce said:

that's interesting, but i don't understand the animation.

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the animation is from wikipedia's page on tachyons. the grey sphere is the particle moving faster than light approaching a given location on the graph. Then when the particle is in a given location, or when it would be calculable rather, it would be seen as splitting and going back where it came from as well as towards where it is heading.

iHearAll said:

the derivative of time? second or third or forth or infinite? the idea of time?

this is just a theory based on absolutely nothing but here's a synapse

and here's a theoretical particle type called a tachyon.
We can think of tachyons, which in my mind makes me believe that the nerves are tachyon receivers. Tachyons are particles that always move faster than light. When it's in a given location, the perception of it is in where it is heading and where it is coming from.View attachment 3853512

Click to expand...

That is cool shit. When researchers go looking for tachyons during some type of cosmic storm, they look for them before the storm actually occurs as they travel backward through time.

You stated that time is a 'just a theory' based on nothing, but this isn't exactly right. The idea of spacetime was from Einstein and all modern physics are based on this forth dimensional concept. Equations and experiments using space time are exact and repeatable, they're are why everything we use everyday works.

When speaking scientifically, it's important to use terms in the correct context -

Theory is the highest form of scientific knowledge, and it consists of facts. Theory in the scientific sense is much different than laymen use the term -

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory

Full Definition of theory
plural theories

1. 1 : the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
   
   
2. 2 : abstract thought : speculation
   
   
3. 3 : the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art <music theory>
   
   
4. 4a : a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action <her method is based on the theory that all children want to learn>b : an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances —often used in the phrase in theory <in theory, we have always advocated freedom for all>
   
5. 5 : a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>
   
   
6. 6a : a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigationb : an unproved assumption : conjecturec : a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject <theory of equations>

The sense that science uses the term is highlighted in red. Theory attempts to explain natural phenomena, the phenomena itself is 'fact'. I'm not trying to be pedantic, it is important to be specific regarding terms when speaking of the scientific method as opposed to using them in a casual sense. If not, equivocation will rear rear its ugly head...

dannyboy602 said:

interesting thread. I've always thought of now as the only thing that matters. bc we can change it. future is only an idea. a construct. the past only exists bc we can remember it.
here I am to find out (thx tyler) that both the past and future are all set in stone as it were. don't know if I can wrap my mind around that but i'm going to continue to live in the now until there aren't any more nows left.

Click to expand...

Lol. You are living correctly, DB. It took a long time for me to accept this, and I don't know if it does me any good. Free will and choice were one of my favorite illusions, I should have taken the blue pill. In a matrix sense, not viagra, smartass

tyler.durden said:

That is cool shit. When researchers go looking for tachyons during some type of cosmic storm, they look for them before the storm actually occurs as they travel backward through time.

You stated that time is a 'just a theory' based on nothing, but this isn't exactly right. The idea of spacetime was from Einstein and all modern physics are based on this forth dimensional concept. Equations and experiments using space time are exact and repeatable, they're are why everything we use everyday works.

When speaking scientifically, it's important to use terms in the correct context -

Theory is the highest form of scientific knowledge, and it consists of facts. Theory in the scientific sense is much different than laymen use the term -

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory

Full Definition of theory
plural theories

1. 1 : the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
   
   
2. 2 : abstract thought : speculation
   
   
3. 3 : the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art <music theory>
   
   
4. 4a : a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action <her method is based on the theory that all children want to learn>b : an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances —often used in the phrase in theory <in theory, we have always advocated freedom for all>
   
5. 5 : a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>
   
   
6. 6a : a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigationb : an unproved assumption : conjecturec : a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject <theory of equations>

The sense that science uses the term is highlighted in red. Theory attempts to explain natural phenomena, the phenomena itself is 'fact'. I'm not trying to be pedantic, it is important to be specific regarding terms when speaking of the scientific method as opposed to using them in a casual sense. If not, equivocation will rear rear its ugly head...

Click to expand...

i meant i base the theory of "synapse tachyons" on absolutely nothing and not time itself is a theory. Maybe a hunch is a better word still

MisterBouncyBounce said:

when exactly is "now"? what is the shortest unit of time? when does something become the past? a billionth of a second ago is the past, a trillionth is too, so is a quadrillion and actually.........so on and so on....

really by the time we react to anything, it's already in the past and we're just catching up to it and as soon as we do, we're in the past and the next thing is already happening before we know it. by the time we realize that thing is happening, its already in the past and we're just catching up to it.

so in short, we all live in the past and the future is really just the present that we can't catch up to until it becomes the past.

Click to expand...

Unless you plan for the future....and react before you make it happen....

In other words I know I am going to throw this apple and can in fact move my other hand to catch it before I ever throw it.

In that case I would be ahead of the future, the now, and the past or in all three at the same time....?

So if you know what's going to happen in the future you can in fact react before it ever happens.

Esp if you are in charge of when it happens.

Unless we are talking about thinking as well.....can you think about the future if your thoughts are really in the past?

The video said that the future is already written within the continuum But, also stated that both people must remain stationary during the slice of time in order to see it happen. I was going somewhere with this, (samples from the bbq) damn…The second perspective or person would have to remain constant, if it dies or is removed my future would unravel or be unknown.
“Now" I’m scared.

Uberknot said:

.can you think about the future if your thoughts are really in the past?

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i guess you can, since we're always in the past.

the future is what hasn't happened yet, the present is what is happening , the past is what has happened.

but on what scale does one consider something is happening? is the "event" you gripping an apple, or is the "event" the atoms of your thumb disrupting the air molecules on the way to gripping the apple?

when does "something", anything, begin to happen? when you drill all the way down into that, you find everything is always in motion to begin with, so nothing ever really gets started. things that "happen" is just the flow of the current of energy and matter........everything, including us, are just electromagnetic waves.

Im here from the future ask me anything

To late now I'm here from the past fuck you