Book Review: The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
You can debate if this is a philosophy book or a physics book that lacks mathematical formulae. Still, I think such a dichotomy is unnecessary as the poetic words can fit into the ream of physics as much as mathematics and physical reality into the realm of philosophy as philosophy in its rawest form is a study of existence. This is an excellent lyrical book which at times flows from word to word without sticking. Not because of difficult concepts but because of soft and smooth prose. This ma...
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I'm sorry I try harder next time. But seriously, the idea that somethings we seem to take for granted like gravity, time, and mass gets so complicated on the smaller scale and in space is mindboggling. And it would be nice if there was an explanation, but unfortunately even how much string theory tries, it hasn't provided the answers we need. Yet, uncertainty makes our lives more exciting and opens up possibilities we can barely dream. I like to hop on your hopeful wagon and agree that at the moment, so much we rely on with our technology and science is beyond our understanding, but one day we will find out why our toys spin.To the questions of relativity, there are occasions which would make us agree that we can see time objectively, that this funny notion which seems to elude us and make our lives bearable and one horror show after another, is a real concept, but time in our current sense is a human notion even when cats might be considered to be sentient observers. Only that they have wisely decided not to wear watches even on the occasion when they are put inside a box with poisonous gas. What I mean about human notion is that how we measure it, handle it, how we look at it, what we want out of it comes from our needs as humans. And I darn hope there is intelligent life up there to give us a real challenge with their argumentation power (as they say, I should stop speaking to my cats. But I have to say, they have pretty good ideas about life.)
I hope you enjoy the book. I have liked Rovelli's other books as well. He knows how to write. He also mentioned this book: Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time. It went straight to my reading list.
Time, like gravity, is in many respects beyond our understanding...AT THE MOMENT. However, much like the old saw, 'If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a noise?', time seems prone to numerous explanations, not all of them cogent. Nor does it seem that there is any evidence that time is dependent on our perception.
Does time slow when one approaches the event horizon of a black hole? Yes. And there are many other instances of time's relativity that do not depend on an observer's perception.
Is time still time without a sentient observer noting its passage? I believe so. However... Does this in itself lead to more interpretations? Did Erwin Schrödinger's cat wear a watch?
Regardless, you've interested me enough to get off my lazy duff and see what this author has to say. Thanks.