Harv,

Space cannot exist by itself.

One thing I credit Alex for is convincing me that the Heisenberg principle is inherent to the universe, and not just a glitch in our observations. That is, he spelled out a convincing argument for the Copenhagen Interpretation (that there is no such thing as an absolute 'particle'). Everything is 'fuzzy,' even at the universe's most fundamental interval.

But this means that nothing exists until such time that this interval has passed. Notice the italicized time. Our 'understanding' of existence is just as intertwined with time as our 'understanding' of particles is intertwined with space.

But nothing, nothing, is purely particulate. Not even black holes.

Dimension is only a word, and I think it's safe to say that -- philosophically speaking -- everyone schooled in modern physics understands that time is not a spatial dimension. After all, we don't call it "space-space."

So, the leap to calling time a dimension is not a philosophical one -- it's much easier than that. If it were as metaphysical a term as "is," then I'd agree it's a philosophical struggle, but it's simply a psychological leap over a term whose (incomplete) meaning is very much a part of a person's vocabulary by the time he/she is required to modify it.

Respectfully,

-LH

• I have some issues - harvey1 - January 10, 2002 - 05:59 UTC
  • Is space or time physical anyway? - alexander - January 10, 2002 - 21:13 UTC
    • I'll ask you what I asked Luis - harvey1 - January 10, 2002 - 21:39 UTC
      • We know that experimentally (that nothing depends on location), - alexander - January 10, 2002 - 23:58 UTC
        • This is a different statement - harvey1 - January 11, 2002 - 03:49 UTC
          • please explain symmetry transformation calculations again... - quiet - January 11, 2002 - 07:10 UTC
            • There should be plenty about symmetry in physics on Internet. - alexander - January 11, 2002 - 21:36 UTC
              • Physicist weighs in about history, religion but not Relativity - quiet - January 11, 2002 - 22:59 UTC
    • WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT - quiet - January 11, 2002 - 01:57 UTC
  • Sloppy response for Harv - luis_hamburgh - January 11, 2002 - 01:00 UTC
    • Well, let's clarify my position - harvey1 - January 11, 2002 - 03:40 UTC
      • E-Prime - luis_hamburgh - January 12, 2002 - 16:08 UTC
    • You guys....living in the real world, does that make sense? - quiet - January 11, 2002 - 07:16 UTC