Genecks Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 (edited) If I have not encountered a time traveler that suits my needs in life at any point in time, then does that mean that time travelers do not exist? Edited September 28, 2016 by Genecks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daecon Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 I'm not sure I'm following the paradox here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sensei Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 (edited) If I have not encountered a time traveler that suits my needs in life at any point in time, then does that mean that time travelers do not exist? Did you encounter any dinosaurs.. ? Did you encounter any mammoths.. ? Did you encounter any knights and kings.. ? Did you encounter any terrorists, murderers, thieves.. ? Personally, not just view TV. Edited September 29, 2016 by Sensei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigL Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 How do you know you haven't encountered any ? Why would they tell you ? How do you know Sensei is not a time traveler sent back from the future to terminate you ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 What is a "time traveler that suits your needs"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Stephen Hawking had a party for time travelers. Nobody showed. He advertised it afterwards, of course. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/02/stephen-hawking-time-travel_n_1643488.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred2014 Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Now where did I put my tub of resublimated thiotimoline? (one for old SF freaks out there) Of course time is just an abstract concept and you can't tavel through a concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Of course time is just an abstract concept and you can't tavel through a concept. Of course, distance is just an abstract concept and you can't travel through a concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imatfaal Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Now where did I put my tub of resublimated thiotimoline? (one for old SF freaks out there) Of course time is just an abstract concept and you can't tavel through a concept. You should be careful of that stuff - the endochronic properties can be quite severe. And pretty sure Africa is only a concept really - and you can travel around and about in Africa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta1212 Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Stephen Hawking had a party for time travelers. Nobody showed. He advertised it afterwards, of course. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/02/stephen-hawking-time-travel_n_1643488.html From this, of course, we can deduce that either time travelers don't exist, or they consider Stephen Hawking to be that kid whose parties nobody wants to go to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred2014 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Of course, distance is just an abstract concept and you can't travel through a concept. I have a 12 inch ruler here - it measures distance. If I can measure it and take "readings" of it - I know it exists. Please show me a device that measures time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I have a 12 inch ruler here - it measures distance. If I can measure it and take "readings" of it - I know it exists. Please show me a device that measures time. I have a 12 hour clock here - it measures time. If I can measure it and take "readings" of it - I know it exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred2014 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Your clock isn't measuring anything and certainly isn't taking any readings of anything. It is merely indicating that it still has a power source capable of turning its gears. It's an indicating device not a measuring device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 My clock doesn't have any gears. And, by definition, time is what clocks measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred2014 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 It doesnt matter whether a clock has gears or not. It doesn't "measure" anything. It is a device rigged to indicate the rotation of the earth around the sun and is re-synchronised when it goes out of whack. That is an example of "rigging" not of "callibrating." The definition as a measuring device is incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sriman Dutta Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Oh I laughed heartily after viewing the conversation between Strange and fred2014..... Nice, carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 It doesnt matter whether a clock has gears or not. It doesn't "measure" anything. Of course it does. It is a device rigged to indicate the rotation of the earth around the sun and It has nothing to do with the rotation of the Earth. I assume you are just trolling now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) It doesnt matter whether a clock has gears or not. It doesn't "measure" anything. If we put a clock in different parts of a gravity well, or or alter its velocity, in relation to another clock its time will change accordingly; it follows that it is measuring something that is changing i.e. time Edited October 4, 2016 by StringJunky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 And, even more fundamentally, if you want to meet somebody then you need to specify four pieces of information: x, y, z and t (e.g. latitude, longitude, altitude and time). These all have standard units of measurement and devices for measuring them. If time could not be measured as fred2014 suggests, then we would never be able to coordinate lunch dates or missions to other planets in the solar system. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endy0816 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 If you go down the road and count mile markers you can figure out how far you've gone. How we tell time is like that. What it measures is the time between markers, what appears on the clock face is the count. Imagine a little imp flipping over an hourglass and moving the hands of the clock. We used to have people whose job this was, now we've advanced to having Swansont monitor the imps. Science! You don't like the 24 hour format, make up your own. We use different systems depending on the situation. From this, of course, we can deduce that either time travelers don't exist, or they consider Stephen Hawking to be that kid whose parties nobody wants to go to. They went at first, but after he refused to serve drinks to the AI's, they retroactively decided not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 (edited) If you go down the road and count mile markers you can figure out how far you've gone. How we tell time is like that. What it measures is the time between markers, what appears on the clock face is the count. Except, as has been explained every time this comes up, there is no motion involved. So measuring time does not involve measuring distance travelled. Edited October 5, 2016 by Strange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta1212 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Except, as has been explained every time this comes up, there is no motion involved. So measuring time does not involve measuring distance travelled. It's measuring distance travelled through time. That's actually a fairly good metaphor. Clocks are odometers of time, and metronomes are rulers of time. Counting mile markers is approximately the same as using an odometer, so it works if you're talking about measuring elapsed time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Ah, fair enough. If it is just a metaphor for the equivalence of the measurements. I (mis)interpreted it to mean that time was measured in terms of the distance travelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Your clock isn't measuring anything and certainly isn't taking any readings of anything. It is merely indicating that it still has a power source capable of turning its gears. It's an indicating device not a measuring device. So is a ruler. It has lines — indications — on it. We have decided that it's length, and we can use it as a comparison to make that measurement. Which is what we decided to do with oscillators of various sorts. We use them to measure time intervals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endy0816 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 (edited) Ah, fair enough. If it is just a metaphor for the equivalence of the measurements. I (mis)interpreted it to mean that time was measured in terms of the distance travelled. Yeah, I'm not sure metaphor vs allegory vs reality, but makes conceptualizing it easier. You can see mile markers. Less obvious that the flipping of an hourglass can be considered equivalent You can use an odometer as a clock, but don't have to use an odometer as a clock. Though hoisting up a car and keeping the speed at 60mph would make for a pretty awesome clock. Which is what we decided to do with oscillators of various sorts. We use them to measure time intervals. Do you happen to have any links you can provide for better understanding the workings of atomic clocks? Wiki doesn't go very in-depth on some of it. Edited October 5, 2016 by Endy0816 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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