[time-nuts] Einstein Special on PBS

Chris Caudle chris at chriscaudle.org
Mon Nov 30 16:24:53 EST 2015


On Fri, November 27, 2015 9:37 am, Mike Feher wrote:
> the period of the hyperfine transitions must change as well, to
> make the defined second longer or shorter. So, in these examples the
> elevation does not change the time, but the way the atoms behave.

That gets into a philosophical question of what defines time. You seem to
take the view that time is some kind of Platonic ideal, and we can compare
how closely a physical phenomenon matches that ideal.  But how do you
define or measure time other than changes from one physical state to
another?  And if every state change process down to the quantum atomic
level changes rate when referenced to the identical processes in a
different gravity potential or acceleration, how do you define which is
the "correct" rate?  How would you objectively tell the difference between
time passing at a different rate, and the Platonic ideal time passing at a
constant rate and literally every physical process progressing at a
different rate referred to the Platonic ideal time?

-- 
Chris Caudle




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