Timely Contemplation

I posted this of facebook and got a few good thoughts from other people.. And since I like to dig and see what is in the minds of others.. Thought I would post it here to... See what everyone here on CS thinks about time..

Does anyone else on here ever contemplate time?? LIke even the mere existance and purpose behind it..?? Does time ever seem to move at different speeds to you ? Like it isnt a constant thing bound by the schedule of the clock.. The clock keeps moving at the same time but time itself actually moves at different speeds in different areas, and times of day? Just a thought I have been pondering for a long while now....

I know there are times when time (heh) seems to go at different rates. At night, I can lay there and think for what seems like hours, but it's really just a minute gone by. And having fun makes time go faster... I don't know. It's confusing.

Yeah it is and some days it seems like the time just drags, where as others you cant catch up... I wonder if energy has anything to do with it..

I do think about it alot. Clocks only measure time as we tell them to. That doesn't mean time moves at that rate. There have been some interesting and in depth studies into the passage of time. We watched a wonderful documentary not long ago. They have measured time based on the constant rate that some atom or particle degrades, I can't remember what it was. By using that to set their basis for measuring, they discovered that time moves slower closer to the earth and slightly faster at six feet above the ground (head height, for some, I'm not that tall). They did some fascinating studies, it was mind boggling.

WOW thats crazy.. See I knew there was something going on... What was the documentary called.. I woudl love to see it

Time is something fun to contemplate. If you enjoy Theoretical Physics (quantum mechanics) at all, it is believed (and used for scientists) that time, in a way is a dimension and interplays with spatial dimensions (Space-Time). The properties of time is also something that is studied immensely right now with photons. Erwin Schrödinger did some amazing, and fun to read experiments on time and time independent systems.
Time is not something that 'exists' but is a way for us humans, with our very small minds, to put things into 'our perspective'.

This might have been it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/time.shtml

I know I've seen this series before. I'd have to watch it again, but I'm still looking to see if was another one. I'm pretty sure it was this series.

I always find it strange how my co-workers and I will experience time in the same way. If it seems like the time is dragging on, we all notice it. If time is going by quickly, it is going by quickly for all of us. How busy we are doesn't seem to affect our subjective experience of time either. It's something we can't quite understand.

Time flies when your having fun or engaged in an activity, but our down times seem to always drag IMO

I watch him all the time, Dionythicus.

This is also very interesting.
http://www.physics247.com/physics-tutorial/gps.shtml
The GPS devices that use satellites to help us find our way, normally gradually drift away from being set perfectly with the satellite. So they are programmed to compensate, such that we are given a precise real-time depiction on our GPS as to what/when/where things are going on. One would not want to make that right turn 4 feet too soon, and hit the fire hydrant....LOL.

Awe I wish I could just click on the links and watch them... I will find them and order them if I have to...

It is very interesting.. I noticed that at my job too.. Some days it just drags and we all notice it, and somedays its fast... And then there are days that just seem normal... And its funny... I drive so much, 80 miles everyday.. And it seems, even when driving at same speeds that time is different at different times of the day.. For instance, at night, time usually always seems to be moving slower...The actual time on the clock moves at the same speed, but driving at the same speed I drove earlier I feel like I am driving so much faster.. And I tend to drive slower because I am used to a certain speed and at that time it seems faster... Thats when I think actual time is moving slower, so driving at the same speed seems faster because of the slowed time.. Where as when it feels like you are driving so slow at the normal speed, time is actually moving faster, so its like your playing catch up.. Kinda hard to explain what I feel and see into my mind into exact words.. Once.. I was driving my kids to school, the same route, same speed, same amount of traffic as usual, and got there ten minutes faster than usual..This I could not understand.. And that to me proved time was moving differently at that moment.. I also wonder if energy has an impact on time.. Like so much energy from the hussle bussle of humans out in the daytime in the city may actually affect the movement of time and make it speed up.. Where as at night, less energy is being expended so time slows down.. Agh.... So much to contemplate...