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A & B theories of Time

Hawkeye

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The A theory seems to encapsulate elements of B theory without the pitfalls. However, B theory seems more like a realistic approach to analysing events in a frame of reference.

Saying "Dinosaurs do not exist" makes sense because they don't, rather, they did. Sadly B theory does not take this into account.

B theory falls apart when you look at the "bigger picture". It's an interesting topic though and I've never really looked into the B theory of time.

I think both have their uses, but I guess this is the incorrect way of thinking about it as the two are quite different.
 

GodOfOrder

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The A theory seems to encapsulate elements of B theory without the pitfalls. However, B theory seems more like a realistic approach to analysing events in a frame of reference.

Saying "Dinosaurs do not exist" makes sense because they don't, rather, they did. Sadly B theory does not take this into account.

B theory falls apart when you look at the "bigger picture". It's an interesting topic though and I've never really looked into the B theory of time.

I think both have their uses, but I guess this is the incorrect way of thinking about it as the two are quite different.

I tend to like B theory more. The expanding block concept seems to make some sense too. But if you say that the past no longer exists, then you can't make certain logical concepts valid. For instance, if I said "All dinosaurs are reptiles" then it wont be true because the class "dinosaurs" is empty, as none of them exist currently. Or, if I go into the future, and say something like "All future murderers are criminals" then it is also not correct, because by definition "Future murderers" do not yet exist. Look up Boolean logic and existential import to see what I am talking about.

Also, the fact that time seems to be relative to the speed of the object in question means that there is no set point that is the present. The one question which I am now forced to ask, after siding somewhat with the B theory, is whether motion can actually exist if past present and future all simultaneously exist.
 

not

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I don't know the name of the theory, or how it fits if at all with A & B, but the idea that their is a physical dimension that we perceive called Space-Time where time moves linearly forward, and 3D motion is possible, and a temporal dimension that is called Time-Space that overlaps Space-Time, and in Time-Space when you physically take a step you are moving within time, and not space, has peeked my interest. This theory allows time travel by bridging the dimensions. I'd like to research it more, so if you are into Time, and have a clue to this theory, please tune me in. I'd like to put more thought into it. But it's not a topic that I usually contemplate, so forgive my ignorance.
 

Cognisant

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I think time is not just influenced by matter, it's derived from it, so it may well be that different kinds of matter have different times and that there is no true time independent of them.

I mean it seems to work that way for everything else.
 

not

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Well my idea is more like A time and B time both exist simultaneously. They overlap. A time is Space Time. We perceive it physically as being one point in present. In the physical world we are always in the present. The past is gone, and the future has not yet arrived. But, simultaneously, in our minds exists B time. In our minds we can jump around in time. If you want to remember an event that happened to you previously, or imagine an event that happened in the past, you just choose to think about it and you instantly move to that point. It does not manifest physically, but it exists in our minds. This only works if you believe our minds and bodies coexist, but are separate.
 
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