A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time itself

Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by haberman on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:12PM (#8553542)

"My own personal opinion is that time is a human construct"

What is this supposed to mean?

We can measure time with non-human instruments and time is at the core of physics. How can it be a human construct?

Sure, hours, minutes, days, etc. are human constructs based on movements of the earth, but time itself?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by kbart on Tuesday November 04, 2014 @04:12AM (#8555678)

Time only defines the state of the extremely complex system known as universe. It's an idea to make things more simple for us humans, not a physics phenomena. Stop all the particles and waves in the universe and time has no meaning. At least that's how I understand what he meant by this.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by beachwood23 on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:22PM (#8553608)

I think his point is that time is so inherently relative to the location / inertia of the observer that it is in practice a human construct.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by physonaught on Monday November 03, 2014 @09:01PM (#8554809)

The physicists definition of time is "What clocks measure". It sounds like he was just saying the party line.

[ Parent | on HN ]