Time

There is a fascinating discussion on my Marxist list serve; here is an exce=
rpt...

Louis, you have raised a very interesting subject. How can anybody say that=
 the views expressed by some 'physicsts' about reality, time and quantum wo=
rld have nothing to do with Marxism?=A0 We have to put up a frontal attack =
on the non-scientific nonsense, in the guise of science. To top it all, one=
 famous scientist claims that mathematical equations gave rise to the unive=
rse! =

Vijaya Kumar M

I don't think that time is an 'illusion', and I consider myself a materiali=
st, and I have to defer to the observational ability of sub-atomic and astr=
ophysicists; but it seems to me that time is not an independent phenomenon;=
 it is a human-devised system to describe human perception of the changes i=
n the ever-fluctuating status of matter (e.g. days, years, life spans, half=
-lives).

A typical dictionary definition of time would be 'a system of sequential re=
lations'. It's kinda like the tree falling in the forest - if there's no se=
ntient ear, there's no sound.

By the way, I think that from a practical perspective, 'space' isn't an ind=
ependent phenomenon either. It's just the absence of matter. Discussions of=
, say, 'curved space' are really describing the relation/activity of matter=
 or 'force'...
- Mike Fahey

People should understand that I only post such material to get a rise out o=
f folks like Jeff. It is like the sand that irritates the oyster.
Louis Proyect

Aha! I should have known.
More surprisingly though, I now see that there are others on this list who =
might fancy playing the same game -- even to the point of advancing idealis=
t conceptions on a Marxism list! -- so I'll avoid snatching the bait. If an=
yone wants to discuss serious questions of physics, I would participate. If=
 they would like to couch their questions or comments in terms of "Marxism"=
 I can deal with that too. After all, physics and Marxism share the same un=
derlying philosophical basis: materialism. But neither usefully informs the=
 content of the other.
- Jeff