eli5 Is it correct to think of events happening on the far side of the universe or in a different galaxy as occurring “at the same time”?
In: Physics
Everything in the universe is relativistic for our practical purposes. You can only know something in comparison to another, and that comparison makes things different based on what is being compared.
That means the answer is either “it depends” or “no”.
Some slightly too philosophical examples 😅:
What does it mean to be a man without first seeing a woman?
What does it mean for something to happen in New York if you don’t first know of that which is not New York?
What does it mean for it to be 5am if you do not know what it means to be 4am?
What does it mean for something to happen at one side of the universe without first knowing what the other half is?
So the question of absolute time is a relative question. In comparison to what? In comparison to two particles in superposition? To a person looking through a telescope? To a ship travelling through space?
The only absolute in the universe is the sum of the whole universe. If you account for everything, you have everything.
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