What is “Time” and how exactly does it work?
In: Physics
they’re hard to answer, because the two theories we have about how the universe work. treat time differently.
According to Special Relativity (which successfully explains virtually everything we know about huge astronomical bodies), time is one dimension of 4-dimensional *spacetime*, and different bodies can move through it at different speeds depending on their motion through the 3 spatial dimensions.
According to quantum theory (which successfully explains virtually everything we know about particle physics), time is just a background measuring stick that ticks by at a set rate always.
These two understandings of time aren’t compatible with each other, and neither theory can work with the other definition of time. So, time is one of the basic elements of existence that’s still really really hard to figure out. Honestly, I know links are discouraged here, but the wikipedia article for Time might blow you mind with how little we understand it.
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