Time: Yes, it's a dimension, but no, it's not like space

Re:Time: Yes, it's a dimension, but no, it's not like space by stouset on Sunday October 20, 2024 @03:53PM (#41898027)

I think that’s GP’s point. If you take at face value that your speed through spacetime is constant and that the only thing that can vary is the magnitude distributed through (x, y, z, t), then the only important component of your spacetime velocity is its angle in 4D space (e.g., your “direction”).

But also our own personal velocity is stationary. We (AIAU, IANAP) always perceive our own velocity vector as (0, 0, 0, 1). When we undergo acceleration it only ever affects the directional components of every other part of the universe, not our own experiential frame.

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Re:Time: Yes, it's a dimension, but no, it's not like space by scotty79 on Monday October 21, 2024 @05:42AM (#41902337)

It's a really funny way of thinking about things. That when your rotate, you don't, instead you rotate entire universe around you. Yet, somehow, how hard is it to rotate has nothing to do with what's in the universe but everything to do with you.

Moving your point of view from one inertial frame of reference to another is easy enough, but there should be some overarching mathematical construct that can model all the inertial frames and their relationships at once. Phenomenons such as energy, mass and acceleration should be easier to understand within it.

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