My favorite folk explanation of general relativity (due to J. A. Wheeler I think) is: people think if all matter disappeared, space and time would remain, but GR says, if all matter disappeared, space and time would disappear too
-
Show this thread
-
I made up an analogous explanation of subjective time experience: people think that if all events disappeared, they would experience a flat, featureless flow of time. No, when events disappear, time experience disappears too.
1 reply 0 retweets 10 likesShow this thread -
Or to put it in generalized void-theoretic terms for those of you who liked
@sarahdoingthing talk at refactor camp -- if you take away the stuff whose interstices form voids, the voids disappear too... cc@kneelingbus2 replies 1 retweet 11 likesShow this thread -
Though I wish there was a way to restate these insights in terms of fields rather than objects and interactions among them...
@gravity_levity3 replies 0 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @vgr @gravity_levity
You want a folk explanation of GR as a field theory?
2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
Of that particular insight about space/time/matter
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.