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Single Idea 22931

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 6. Space-Time ]

Full Idea

The most characteristic features of time, which distinguish it from space, are the fact that time passes, and the fact that the present is in some sense unique

Gist of Idea

We distinguish time from space, because it passes, and it has a unique present moment

Source

Robin Le Poidevin (Travels in Four Dimensions [2003], 08 'Mystery')

Book Ref

Le Poidevin,Robin: 'Travels in Four Dimensions' [OUP 2003], p.122

A Reaction

The B-series view tries to avoid passing time and present moments. I suspect that modern proponents of the B-series mainly want to unifying their view of time with Einstein's, to give us a scientific space-time.

Related Idea

Idea 22932 We don't just describe a time as 'now' from a private viewpoint, but as a fact about the world [Le Poidevin]

The 16 ideas with the same theme [relative space and time, treated as one system]:

14014 Space alone, and time alone, will fade away, and only their union has an independent reality [Minkowski]
21232 Space-time arises from the connection between measurements of space and of time [Einstein, by Farmelo]
15482 We can't think of space-time as empty and propertyless, and it seems to be a substratum [Martin,CB]
20640 Space-time is indeterminate foam over short distances [Close]
22931 We distinguish time from space, because it passes, and it has a unique present moment [Le Poidevin]
15194 Time, as it appears in standard modern science, is bad verificationist metaphysics [Smith,Q, by Le Poidevin]
14735 Space is 3D and lacks a direction; time seems connected to causation [Sider]
15021 The central question in the philosophy of time is: How alike are time and space? [Sider]
14588 Modern metaphysicians tend to think space-time points are more fundamental than space-time regions [Hawthorne]
14901 Spacetime may well be emergent, rather than basic [Ladyman/Ross]
14924 If spacetime is substantial, what is the substance? [Ladyman/Ross]
22913 The universe expands, so space-time is enlarging [Bardon]
19475 Relativity makes time and space jointly basic; quantum theory splits them, and prioritises time [New Sci.]
19955 Space-time may be a geometrical manifestation of quantum entanglement [New Sci.]
19948 Einstein's merging of time with space has left us confused about the nature of time [New Sci.]
23002 In relativity space and time depend on one's motion, but spacetime gives an invariant metric [Baron/Miller]