Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

1. 

   mhh5, 12 Sep 2000 @ 5:23am

   
   

   the internet will tell us...

   "Most fundamental physical processes are symmetric in time. The motion of the planets in the gravity field of the sun is reversable- a film of the motion of a planet around its sun can be shown backwards without anyone being able to tell. Similarly to gravity, the strong nuclear and electromagnetic forces are also time-symmetric. Only the weak nuclear force appears to violate this symmetry, and this so far only in the behavior of the neutral kaon."
   http://ppd.fnal.gov/experiments/ktev/pipiee/pipiee_bg.html
   
   So you need to get vcr that'll record the behavior of particles under the influence of the weak nuclear force... Maybe TiVo will work, or Replay....

   [ link to this | view in thread ]

2. 

   bob, 12 Sep 2000 @ 9:25pm

   
   

   Re: the internet will tell us...

   A common mistake among all of us is to take our metaphors too seriously. In fact, the notions of

   [ link to this | view in thread ]

3. 

   bob, 12 Sep 2000 @ 9:27pm

   
   

   Re: the internet will tell us...

   Above comment cut off--so repeated in full: A common mistake among all of us is to take our metaphors too seriously. In fact, the notions of forward and backward are spatial metaphors. Why would one think they apply to time at all. For example, wideness is a spatial metaphor too, as is up or down. They don't apply to time--why should directional metaphors? The truth is (well, perhaps, anyway) that the notions of forward and backward are simply alien to the concept of time, and do not apply to it at all.

   [ link to this | view in thread ]