What If Time Stopped? | Philosophy Tube

Does it make sense to talk about time passing, or time standing still? What do physics and metaphysics say about the philosophy of time?

Twitter: @PhilosophyTube

Recommended Reading:
John McTaggart, “The Unreality of Time”
Simon Prosser, “Could We Experience the Passage of Time?”
D.C. Williams, “The Myth of Passage”
A.N. Prior, “Thank Goodness That’s Over!”
Aristotle, Physics

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[spiritcat]

I, for one, am extremely appreciative of standing maps that have a "YOU ARE HERE" marker on them, so I'll be holding onto my watch for now.

[avery-quinnmaddox]

I absolutely love the political stuff and I think it's super important to discuss and apply, but I'm glad that you're not solely focusing on the political philosophy.

[rosePetrichor]

I love what Abigail does now but I do really enjoy this earlier, less on-the-pulse stuff. The world of today is so tumultuous and there seem to be new arguments of the moment or events that need to be properly analysed every day. Whilst properly framing a concept of the moment philosophically and contextually is good work and is what made Philosophy Tube really popular, and it must be difficult to NOT make something that is relevant to the world currently being on fire in many different ways, I do miss these more 'pure philosophy' investigative pieces.

[FilmFightFanatic]

Besides all the more scientific and philosophical definitions of time, most people seem to perceive time in relation to space. Time is described with spatial terms like "arrow of time", mostly linearly unlike what Einstein stated about it. In that way, it would seem time is so dependent on motion that we imagine "time stopping" as "space stopping" or the stopping of all motion. If that were the only way to perceive time then theoretically speaking, we can imagine a thought experiment where a universe had only two identical particles and they switch places with another at a certain rate and afterwards they trade locations at the same rate, then return to their original locations. If we observed this particle movement backwards or forwards we could not tell the difference between past and present as they look the same and moved the same unless we observed the original movement. Therefore perception of time as an abstract form of motion is erroneous. A common misconception of time. But we still rely on even with precise time-keeping devices like moving arms on a watch or changing digits on a clock.

[chrisanderson]

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."
Great video, and interesting to tackle a different philosophical topic that really comes back to one of the basic questions - how we perceive the world and what that means. Keep up the good work!

[helicoidcyme]

I don't see that the B-conceptualization makes relief impossible. You made a comparison to a book, and I can feel relief when I pass a climactic portion of a book, despite the text of the book remaining the same. "Thank goodness that's over" is easily reframable into "Thank goodness I'm past that", a statement that makes quite a bit of sense in terms of, for instance, a section of road that's under construction.


To be fair, this requires a conceptualization of identity that allows a distinction between "I, now" and "I, then", but that seems pretty common afaict.

[Ramiprops]

I find it weird that someone might subordinate metaphysical knowledge to human speech patterns. Why would the way humans speak have any influence over the properties of the universe?

[zuthalsoraniz]

I feel like the difference between A universes and B universes comes down basically to a change of reference frame. A theorists see themselves as standing still while time flows past them, while B theorists see time as standing still while they move through it - both are equally valid descriptions of the observation that there is relative motion between observers and time, just like the view that the train you‘re on is standing still and the landscape is moving past is just as valid as that of a train moving through a stationary landscape.

[MichaelSansburyJr]

I'm in Simon Prosser's class at St. Andrews right now, and my exam is tomorrow. Thanks for the revision help.

[mattoneil]

Is there a Patreon level where I can have Abigail send me “I love you” texts every two minutes for a week?

[javierbenez]

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut does a great job of describing b-universe time.

[mindybriggs]

This is my FAVORITE EPISODE EVER! These are my fav conversations to have with my husband and friends.

[IliyanBobev]

I've been in the B-theory even before I knew the term, and I'm quite comfortable with it. Let me try to redefine the "stopping" of time in fashion that might make sense in B-theory: Although our physical selves are 4D objects with temporal parts, our conscience is only a 3D slice of that 4D object i.e. we do not (cannot) experience different temporal parts simultaneously. So "experience" is like a wave passing through the 4D object, experiencing each temporal slice in order. So to "experience" "stopping" of time, all that is needed is that for a time-length of our 4D object, the surrounding 4D objects to have the same 3D cross section and relative arrangement. All the effects described at the beginning of the video will be valid (inability to breathe/move), but in terms of 4D geometry it's conceivable.

[dogonahottinroof]

TIMEQUAKE II BY KURT VONNEGUT is an underappreciated and silly bit of time fiction. (Essentially, the universe gets bored of expanding and decides to contract for a bit, causing everyone to live out their last few years in reverse.)

[TylerSuronen]

"Thank goodness that's over" has the same problem as saying the sun "rises." We know it doesn't literally rise up around the edge of the Earth, but it's weird to try and put it otherwise.

[ruaoneill]

'We are here and this is now' Terry Pratchett

[sourcedrop]

i've been seeing things in a b-universe way for a while now. i see time as a spatial dimension. and the reason it would be different than the other spatial dimensions is because everything is propelled in one direction (the direction of time) in it, unlike the 3 spatial dimensions which are just spaces that things hang out in or move lazily in.

in my mind this explains evolution and our need to live. we have a force propelling us forward, we aren't just sitting here being alive.

it also explains why passion can make you want to move mountains to realize your dreams. you are flowing more with the flow of time and life rather than against it.

[TaylorjAdams]

Thanks for this video man. The comment section made me realize that I do really need to address all the little reasons why my theory makes more sense before I contend with the most difficult to explain ones that my current writings deal with exclusively

[washaslolos]

I really like your videos, but this one is the best one I'd seen. Your other videos are amazing, so saying this is my favorite is A LOT. I liked the way you combine physics and philosophy in a convincing way. The subject and the approach was brilliant. It made me think more deeply about time. I can't wait to do more research on it. THNAK YOU

[criticalravi]

Great video, I love me some metaphysics :D I have one problem though. Even if the pie is hot and cold and these properties exist simultaneously in 4d, we still experience this weird change of perspective that I can't really explain. I think it doesn't really matter if time actually passes or not, it's the fact that we experience these shifts in perspective which is interesting.