|
Is “Time” Speeding up?DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1103196, PP. 1-6 Subject Areas: Philosophy Keywords: Time, Perpetual Motion, Speed of Light, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Time Crystal, Bible, Genesis, Lifespan Abstract
This article considers the possibility that there
might be a plausible scientific explanation for the 900-year lifespans of the characters in the
beginning of the biblical book of Genesis. The explanation is based upon the
hypothesis that there may be two different forms of “time”. The
first form would be “astronomical” time, which is based upon
the quasi-perpetual rotational and revolutionary motions of heavenly bodies. The
rates of these processes, which ideally consume no energy, have been, to a
first approximation, relatively invariant, at least within the brief temporal
framework of recorded human history. The second form of time would be “thermodynamic” time, the measurement of
which is based upon the movements of clocks, whose reported rates of passage of
time are linked inextricably to a decrease in the free energy of the system. This
second form of time is the form generally employed to measure the rates of
progress of physical phenomena, such as chemical reactions. If the underlying
rate of passage of thermodynamic time had changed at some point in history,
both the chemical reactions and the clocks used to measure their progress,
would have changed together, which change might therefore have gone unnoticed. The
effects of a changing thermodynamic clock on human perception of the world, and
upon the perceived speed of light, are discussed.
Biegeleisen, K. (2016). Is “Time” Speeding up?. Open Access Library Journal, 3, e3196. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1103196. References
comments powered by Disqus |
