As I noted above, with respect to such things as a complete understanding of spacetime, sure, we can go the route that Brian Greene as taken. We can become an actual theoretical physicist with the education and the background to discuss these things in a considerably more informed manner.
Or we can dabble in it as most of us here do. Simply trying our best to grasp the points that folks like Newton and Einstein and Hawking were making.
But the bottom line is that none of us were around when space and time came into existence. If in fact they have not always existed. And we can’t exactly go to youtube and watch videos of existence itself coming into existence.
And yet a week from now you will no doubt be here making the same [in my opinion] lame objection.
The video has nothing to do with anything that we experience.
Exactly!! But then most of us haven’t experienced a landing on the Moon.
Why don’t you take it “out of the clouds”, or in this case “out of other galaxies”, and bring it “down to earth”.
A retort about me again. It’s like you are human yo-yo. One post you are up making intelligent observation about something, then the next post you are down fulminating about one or another alleged defect of mine.
Now, you know what I think motivates this, right?
If we are talking about our actual situation, we are talking about people in close proximity, moving slowly relative to each other. The past, present and future is as we experience it. It is within grasp of our understanding.
In other words, if others want to grasp it, they will understand it as you do. Time than becoming just another rendition of Communism. Though to the best of my knowledge Communism is applicable only here on Earth while time itself is embedded throughout the entire…multiverse?
Notice that when I try to keep the discussion “down to earth”, you go off into the abstract of hypothetical aliens 10 billion light years away.
Note to others:
By all means come to your own conclusions about this sort of thing.
Sort of like saying, “We live our lives autonomously. It’s demonstrably true for everyone. Why deny it?”
Ever the objectivist aren’t you?
So you’re saying that the sequence of time cannot be demonstrated to be true for everyone?
No, I’m suggesting that until we have a complete understanding of the relationship between spacetime and the existence of existence itself there will be conflicting theoretical conjectures about how mere mortals here on planet Earth ought to understand it. Let alone demonstrate to others that how they think they understand it is how all rational men and women are obligated to understand it.
If that can’t be demonstrated, then what the fuck can be demonstrated???
Many, many, many things it would seem. I think it can be demonstrated that you and I exist. That ILP exists. That this thread on ILP exists. That Don Trump is president of the United States. That the Vatican exists. That Bush 41 just died. That an understanding of the laws of physics have allowed us to think up and to create lots and lots of amazing technologies.
That is, assuming all of this is not just part of some sim world, or demonic dream, or an entirely solipsistic creation. Or that we don’t actually reside in one or another matrix. Or that all of it was only ever as it could have been given the laws of matter.