Special Relativity & the Nature of Time

· by · in Philosophy of Science, Physics, Science. ·

Hello RTU readers! Apologies for the extended silence. I am currently studying for a MSc degree in Theoretical Physics which is proving to be rather time consuming. As such, unfortunately my writing will be on hold for a little while. In the mean-time, as I know many of you enjoyed my many previous posts on the nature of time I thought I would link you to my dissertation on the topic, which goes by the rather wordy title;

‘In light of the theory of Special Relativity is a Passage of Time and the argument of the Presentist untenable?’

The paper elucidates on the ideas i’ve touched on here at RTU in the past, beginning with the philosophical notion of the present moment and then introducing the mathematics of Special Relativity to deconstruct the nature of time. Conclusions are then drawn on whether we must abandon our familiar notion of the present moment due to the implications of theory. In a nutshell Special Relativity postulates observers moving at different speeds can measure the time interval between events to be different – not good for our common belief of a unique ticking of time!

The paper is fairly long but seeing as I won’t be posting for a little while perhaps some of you may be glad of it. I hope the piece is accessible in both the physics and philosophy content but if there are any questions on the content and ideas please drop me a message below and I will find a time to answer!

Link: https://philpapers.org/archive/DHEILO.pdf

7 responses to “Special Relativity & the Nature of Time”

  3. Thanks for the update Mehki as was wondering over the weekend how you and Joseph are doing. Will mull over the dissertation and would be interested if your MSc studies and research may shed any light on the ancient notion of the nature of time of being not linear but cyclical, or progressing like a spiral.
    When considering this in the briefest of overviews (at https://richards-watch.org/2016/10/18/on-the-nature-of-time/) I was surprised to learn that’s how a renowned financial analyst monitors stock markets’ cyclical fluctuations.

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    • Thank you Richard, hope you are well. During my thesis in the summer I hope to do further research into the nature of time so I will be sure to get back to you with any findings I think should be of interest to you on the topic!

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  5. A Happy New year to you Mehki and Joseph – you may like to read this post by biochemist pref Sy Gart, which leads with mathematician Sheila Deeth’s comment. They surpass the concept of a conjunction of science and scripture to focus upon the metaphorical mirroring of maths and our Maker. Relish the truism behind an atheist’s jest in surpass the concept of the conjunction of science and scripture to focus upon the metaphorical mirroring of maths and our Maker. Relish the truism behind an atheist’s jest in https://thebookofworks.com/2018/01/14/is-god-imaginary/

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