From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!uwvax!doug Newsgroups: net.misc Title: Re: what is time Article-I.D.: uwvax.510 Posted: Wed Jul 28 09:14:52 1982 Received: Fri Jul 30 01:34:10 1982 References: uwvax.503 watmath.3098 You are right that it doesn't matter what we believe since it is all fixed anyway. Fortunately, however, I am a non-objective human and can't bring myself to live according to this doctrine - even if I think it's true. It's probably a result of evolution. Those creatures who think they control their destiny probably just happen to be those who survived (i.e., here comes a car - I shall move out of the way and avoid getting hit). I think, maybe, that things like our sense of passage of time are the products of a successful evolution. But do they have merit physically? Is not space-time just there? If we really do exist in a 4-dimensional space-time then isn't some sort of determinism natural? It is not as though we exist in "space" which is independent of "time". Are they not supposed to be all of the same structure? How can we "move" from one point in space-time to another? Move with reference to what? What is the "rate" of the passage of time? dt/dt? Any suggestions out there?