For more on this debate, watch our exclusive interview with Julian Barbour on the end of time as we know it kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fdWEmKqIl8nXgJ8.html

I think the potted plant got closest to the truth

Wow, what a debate! I’ve never seen a finer display of interpretative dance. These people literally sat in meek chairs while they danced around the questions coming from a man sitting in a much much more intricate and accommodating chair.

Julian Barbour's book, The End Of Time, really is fascinating. If you want to read the best expression of the idea of the non-existence of time then that's the book to read, along with David Deutsch's Fabric Of Reality, which has an entire fascinating chapter(among many others that deal with all kinds of extraordinarily interesting and mind-expanding concepts) dedicated to it. I tried Huw Price's book on time(can't remember the name) and found it fascinating but frankly beyond me at that point.

The question is not whether space and time exist or not. We all know that they do. The question is whether they are fundamental or emergent.

Time can be wasted. This video proves it.

The branch of mathematics called Category Theory provides a good language for describing some of the issues they are talking about. For example, Barbour's diagrams showing space and time as relationships is an example of the approach in Category Theory, which talks not so much about the "objects" in any particular mathematical or physical theory, but rather the relationships between the objects. In fact, the objects can be defined (up to isomorphism) purely in terms of their interrelationships, so that you don't even need objects at all, only relationships.

i wish i was smart enough to understand what that physicist was saying

If none of this is real...... Do I really have to pay rent next month.?

Speculations on Space and Time as 'emergent properties': Space is generated by 'separation' of two or more 'objects'. Time is generated by any 'change' in their relative configuration. To make objects more or less 'separate' would of course constitute 'change'. Thus time and space are surely interrelated or interdependent - but not necessarily identical in 'nature' or origin. The forces of 'expansion' (in the common sense of the word) of the Universe would drive the generation of space. Separating things apart. 'Dividing' them. The 'diluting' of everything... Towards a 'colder' and 'colder' state. Becoming less and less 'solid'. The amount of change would determine the 'scale' or 'clock frequency' of Time. The apparent 'direction' of Time would be determined by the order in which multiple changes occur. The 'rules' - the 'cause and effect' - the order of the sequence would be determined by the 'balancing act' of the relevant fundamental forces acting on the 'objects' in the given space. "Gravity/Repulsive gravity"? "Push / Pull"? "Expansion / Attraction"? Something in this 'balancing act' must turn out as 'irreversible'; determining the sequence of 'nows', making time seem '1-directional' and 'logically sequential'. In the context of the whole Universe the 'frequency' and 'direction' of Time seems entirely 'fixed'. In the context of a single photon, to even define 'space and time' would seem 'problematic'. General Relativity is derived from looking at the very largest of scales. Quantum Mechanics is derived from looking at the tiniest of scales, and its approach is fundamentally different from GR, being 'probabilistic' in nature (which inherently necessitates time). Both of them extrapolating from their point of view - towards the other end. Is it surprising that the 'two ends of the tunnel' don't quite meet up? ... Not really :)

"What is Time?" normal person: "I don't know." professionals: spend 30 mins dodgeing the question.

I really don't think there was much content in this discussion.

No memory no time !

Philosophy is about the question Physics is about the answer Don't ask a Philosopher for an answer Don't ask a physicist to analyze a question

Philoshpher is actually always interested in hanging the question, they will basically go round and round and answer nothing. Forget about time they will never answer even 2+2, rather they will reply saying, it depends on what you think of addition

Get me on the show and I will explain time and space without beating around the bush

Reality is for some perhaps a simulation or "information" or a hologram or a block universe.. In the end for me, something exist first of all as "idea". A (non existing) simple particle is merely a closed center of force and force is described mathematically but what it "really" is, is hard to say. Perhaps it's all about ideas in the mind of the creator, this reality. Then follows that even time and distance are products of the imagination of a cosmic brain. This explanation of reality is somewhat satisfying. The problem is only then what role we have here then. Are we pieces of that brain who have been 'erased" to forget where we came from ? But for what purpose? So the cosmos is then explained but not we.

When the use the phrase..."Information cannot be destroyed" to say what is much more accurately put as..."Things that exist, cannot TRULY be made to no longer exist in all ways. shapes and forms."

Thanks for the heads up

yes the eternal moment of now

There is a difference between sequence and time. Sequence exists, energy exists, but time doesn't. Space, is our brain comparing where something IS compared to where something else IS (the difference is space). Time is where something IS compared to where it WAS (the difference, is time). This is the basis of time. Its an observation of movement. Its our brain noticing something in a different place than it was, and filling in the gap with a concept we decided to call "time". If there was no movement, there would be no time. This "gap" can change depending on the speed of movement. Our sense of time usually has a reference point. If that point changes, our sense of time would change. Example: Take a video for example. You can speed up the video which would make you intuitively feel like time is moving faster,. This is because the movement of what is happening on screen is faster. You can slow it down and you would feel like time flows slower. But time doesn't change by you simply speeding up a video. Its our observation of movement that changes. In the real world we judge time by clocks (reference points), weather its the sun rising and setting or leaves shuffling in the wind. But all of those things are simply an observation of the movement of energy. If you sped up the cycle of the solar system, "time" would seem to pass faster. "Seem" is the key word. Time is simply our observation of where something is as opposed to where it was. That's it. Only energy exists. All else is a figment of our imagination. This is why "time travel" is impossible. For time travel to ever happen, you would have to reverse the movement of every atom in the existing universe/s to the same place it was in this "past" you are trying to get to. That would take more energy than we have at our disposal. And even that wouldn't be going back in time, it would be going forward in time reversing all the movements of every atom backward to the same position where it used to be. It would more accurately be described as recreating the past rather than traveling to the past. The "person" able to do this (if created of this universe) would have to be reversed as well, because he came from a bunch of things that used to be part of other things, and other things wouldn't be able to be restored unless he was also. If someone got away with this, nobody would notice. This could then lead into a great theological/philosophical debate of an all powerful Deity, and how exactly He would be able to change anything, and everything without us even noticing. He Himself wouldn't change though as He was not created of this universe. Who said? I did. I thought of this on my own, thinking and reasoning on the matter for a time. No pun intended. uni - Single Verse - spoken sentence "Let there be light" (energy) Beautiful.

Michela Massimi was infuriatingly woolly and vague. The section where the host tried to pin her down was frankly embarrassing - and I'm convinced that bringing up Kant does nothing but make constructive discussion more difficult.

Whatever happened to a straightforward answer instead of a discussion on it where everyone has a different version?

The molecules formally known as Julian, have left the building :)

Does anybody have a mathematically consistent book on time being an emergent property of space and energy

"The Future is a concept, it does not exist. There is no such thing as Tomorrow. There Never will be, because TIME is always NOW. That's the one thing we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop Thinking. We fond there is only PRESENT, on an ETERNAL NOW." - Alan Watts

Why does it take a philosopher 2000 words to say what a physicist says in 2?

Problem is today's age of internet everyone thinks competent enough to think they can tackle the big questions

one more case where the future results of experimental physics will cause many tears of both joy and sorrow ;-)

Why isnt Dr Who in this conversation? If anyone can talk about time surely its him.

Why are the comments very ignorant and dismissive that a clear conceptual analysis for the underpinnings of time is much as important as mathematical formalism of space and time?

Man, these scientists are slippery critters.

Space and Time is just two words concepts, an expressions of a particular empirical experience in a certain language. Physicist likes to define further complex expressions ..............general population experience it daily as existence in a moment. In Chinese, which is pictorials expressions, Time, 时, an inch in a day. Space, 空, labor under a roof.

I strongly disagree with "Friday afternoon" existing independently of our concepts

Space is the 3-dimensional distances between matter, and time is the rate of change of matter, So only matter and energy exist. Matter is condensed energy, and energy is diffused matter. They differ only by their frequencies , wavelengths and wave numbers.

Too bad they did not have Martin Heidegger on that panel.

Hilary your body language was a master class in misogyny.

I question the spatial distribution of the panelist...does anyone have a short answer?

Kant said this, that, and the other. Jeez lady, are you capable of an independent thought?

Conciousness is the only empirical datum we have. Conciousness is fundamental. Everything is an experience in conciousness. Science is the study of how we experience information, not of things out there independent of observation.

This has been disappointing. Not a debate, and a bad display of scientific objectivity. Time and space exists independently of us. All of nature and all living organisms observed or not, draw oxygen into their lungs slowly burning, and the river will carve the stone as it goes by. We are bound by the order of matter, as we are one in structure. What we perceive is very different, on one side this is how we've evolved, and we have limits,, the orher side, our ability to break the boundaries of time and space, Love, longing, dreams, imagination. We can feel the Love in this monent for an uncle who is in another country, or long for your late grandfather's kind words. Emotions that are as strong and real connecting here with far, and now with then. Imagination and dreams are preferable to go the other way, towards the future. And no mathematics can prove it right or wrong since no mathematics can calculate what I feel while standing on a beach gazing over the strong salt smell of the sea towards the east, my home. Universal time and space exists,, simultaneously everywhere, We are wired to perceive time and space. And we can travel with our thoughts, to where and when..

Absolute time does not exist but relative time most definitely does. Time is a variable (t) that is inversely proportional to the speed of light (c). It is the root cause of time-dilation, which is why time (t) is relative to velocity. It is also a measure of frequency because light (electromagnetic energy) needs time to propagate wavelengths and frequencies, otherwise there would be no energy and no light; it is also the reason why 'c' cannot be infinite. Time is therefore a measure of frequency. Earth's clock-time, using the rotation and orbit of the earth as units of time, has absolutely no meaning elsewhere in the universe and it is highly inaccurate. Which is why we frequently add leap-years (and, sometimes, even seconds to years) to readjust earth-time. Earth-time is a very poor substitute for universal time. It would be fair to say that earth-time doesn't really exist because it pretends to be absolute. Universal time (the correct time) is relative.

Even after seeing this video Time and 'Space were as great a mystery as before. Perhaps Mankind will never be able to unveil this nature's secret.

The guy with dark shirt and glasses said absolutely nothing.. he created his own jargon of evasiveness!

So what do we call the unoccupied portion between the physical you and the physical me? Or how do we call that portion I physically fit myself in and that portion you separately fit yourself in physically? If it isn't space, then what is it? Is it all in the mind and not at all existing outside of the mind?

Coming soon: "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

Omar khayyam said"I know the boundries of science. i know the ups and downs of the world.one more thing tha i know is the all of that is nothing but a blow in the wind"....

Michela doesn't know what she is talking about. She needs to read more. Julian is the star of the show.

What experiment will destroy realistic interpretations of quantum physics?

Not complicated. Time is a measuring stick for events. It is like temperature, pressure, etc

Time, as we experience it, is our mind's way of ordering events; however, on a cosmic level, time is an actual thing in the same way as gravity is. I'm unsure of it's actual function though, aside from sequencing events. I am sure it holds a deeper role though.

I get the feeling they are talking through their hat and they are no closer to universal realities than your average Joe in the street.😀

These esoteric musings are going to go nowheres unless they come to terms with the fact that we are threefold beings physical spiritual and unutterable.... And I can prove this position beyond any reasonable doubt

Say you tap the surface of water then even a small movement create ripples. But water is made of molecules which are heavy. But now you tap on sound the ripples travel much faster and you can visualize how a small disturbance work. Now imagine tapping light. Just like nothing it is so complicated and echoes travel millions of miles. So the effect of ripples depends on medium and how fast they curve in space. Image tapping empty space almost nothing. Curvatures are extremely fast and very small region. Time is the first curvature of empty space. So space is determined by time. But time is just an instance like a dot. Space time ends in a dot. There are two things involved in a dot disturbance one is phase velocity and the other group velocity and the difference create the universe and multiverse expansion. This small difference is time created and half is space created. Why half. Say you take a sphere and give a velocity at surface then twice is the curvature at the middle.

Does CHANGE unify time and space or space and time? Define change?

How do you think Pure ,biological, marine, computer etc science.

I love Julian Barbour! I'm not half smart enough to understand half of what he says, but I can tell he is saying new, deep, profound, and important things.

er, silly question here, is there quantum "stuff" between electrons and protons in an atom? i mean is there string or "nothing"?

Me wondering why weight wasn’t mentioned as though space and time have any fundamental relationship. In fact, within a framework of a curvature of some sort, space is better related to weight than to “time” or better put “PERIOD”. But Goodluck to fantasy physicists and their consumers

I find the idea of our perception as possibly "unreal" interesting. It implies that some entity can ever know the ultimate nature of the universe, space and time. Perhaps all perceptions, excepting those made by drunken, stupid or insane observers, are "real" but not unique? Any reality, among many possible others, is in the demonstrable, coherent and consistent idea of the theory/theorist, within a given paradigm, and it's a matter of cogent intuition or otherwise? Observable phenomena doesn't really exhaust the idea of "nature": not regarding the ultimate nature of human beings even, and certainly not concerning space, time and the universe.

you should consider philosopher of science William lane craig on this topic

Another outstanding example of the value of philosophy (none at all). If you want to learn about time watch the scientists discuss it, they actually have opinions.

Could it be that time and space exist, they are just relative to us!

History once said that space was the firmament but we sent rockets to the moon. Time used to be, "it's time to get up or time to go to bed." Then someone created a clock. So either space and time exists or science has been the greatest hoax ever pulled off by man.

Space and time are constructs weaved into the system. That's how and where the game is played.

What does the chaotic synch between the gut and the brain represent, moreover what the vibe then equal too in reality space? for the end of the vid.

If you think of the Geometry of just two Observers in Special Relativity = Pretty Extraordinary ~ ~ Then just even try to imagine, all of the extraordinary Geometry that would be required for every possible Observer ( what ever an Observer is ( ? ? ? ) ~ ~ ) in General / All Relativity in the Universe = = I don’t think the human mind could even contemplate that.

Space and time exist or else we would not exist no body and no mind! Even if we have life after death there has to be a vessel that holds this allows containment I like what Lee Smolin says...time and space exist seperately but work together..their fundamental.

First of all our mind doesn't interact directly with matter. Secondly it interacts with part of matter in kind of non-analog way. My conclusion is simple that space and time is reduced very abstract representation of ultimate reality in order to survive human in nature. What does science is adopting animal mind to some repited facts to make better understanding of mind's construction of space-time continuum. If we be able to reflect our mind's process into quantum level then we can say we understand realm as it is.

Philosophy vis Physics. Physics are fundamental where Philosophy is within the mind. Consider that all people have never existed except for one "mind". With the people gone, then the remaining fact is that every particle, in the observable and unobservable universe, at any instant, has a relationship with each other and for which the relationship for the next moment can be mathematically deduced. The moment first considered is the NOW and once that moment has gone that moment cannot be returned to unless we were to magically return all the particles to the previous mathematical relationship. As julian Barber shows "time" is a relationship of particles in constant motion. The time that Philosohpy imagines is within our mind only and is reinforced by the human invention of time which is one year being equal to a distance travelled by people on Earth. However, the parts we have to set our "time", the sun the moon and the plants came into existence and will disappear leaving no yardstick. Now , superimpose a person in its complete form in moving particles onto the changing moment. The person will simpley be part of the Universe and can be understood as a picture, followed by another picture and so on and, only by the person having a memory, is any past understood and through our intelligence we can see and understand t the rocks all around us have "changed" over the billions and billions of miles travelled by OUR particles

Space is the volume in which all things exist, and distance is a measure between points in space. Time is the measure between events that occur within space. This stuff is intuitive, and it doesn't take PhDs yammering on to explain what we all already know.

Need Nima Arkani-Hamed on this panel

Imagine knowing every single aspect of human behaviour in real time in every single house flat and business etc etc etc then Imagine that in leisure time and remaining in one place the home I guess some people do not get it I t real time metraverse and universe

Well, after all, They don't really know nothing about time.

The general aspect of time and space is simply both are just an infinate ongoing state of spiritual existance that we are a part of. Without life to experience and rationalize these, neither would exist. So, why try to make time and space more mysterious than they are?

Much of the answers are epistemological in nature but to regard space and time as mere epistemological preclude the existence of space and time before conscious beings began to exist in our universe?? Space and time are Ontic but relative values!! Our physical universe by its very nature is comprised of relative values throughout?? Absoluteness is synonymous with singleness, with a value that is a single invariant value in every case, but our universe is comprised of various reference frames which leads to relativity?? If you had one point you have a single reference frame, if you introduce a second and third reference frame then you have three different ways to see your world which makes the view from each vantage relative!! The only invariant in our world is the existence of spacetime itself which would be necessary because spacetime defines our universe, it is the framework of our universe!! So, it all falls in place imagine a pool of water with a few balls bobbing about, in such a pool there is nothing absolute about the individual balls in constant flux but the only invariant would be the boundaries of the pool, the pool walls which act as framework for the pool without which there would be no pool!! Space and time are modalities of one single entity. Space and time are inversely proportional values existing in one entity spacetime!!

I am a doctor of medicine and while seeing the video , I asked my grandson what the time is, he looked at the electronic clock and said 6. 47 pm and I waited for one minute and asked him again, he said 6. 48 pm ,and when I asked him what is the difference, he spontaneously answered DISTANCE .I was awestruck.Can distance be space or time?

The flowers the light over the two guys head the proximity to the flowers to the people on the white background

If I ever heard any babble it is this Huw Price guy my dear lord how convoluted confusion

If all the ¨nows¨ are there at once as Barbour said at 35:02, doesn´t that mean that we are passing through the equivalent of predetermined frames of a movie or weighted probabilities of experiences whose total possible outcomes have already been predetermined.

Even photographs of the past only exist in the present as we view them; THE PAST EXIST ALWAYS BUT AT DIFFERENT LEVEL AS YOU KNOW STILL GENERATIONS PASSED PYRAMIDS EXIST NOW TOO , LIKE that all past is recorded or embeded in some energy form

The minute you abandon naive realism, which you have to do once its appreciated that the sky is not 'really' the qualia of blue that is consciously perceived, you are inescapably in a Kantian rabbit hole heading towards space and time not being real. There is simply no way out of this. You cannot argue that our vision is just neuronal activity going on in the back of the brain and presenting itself via illusory qualia.....and in the same breath argue that you are somehow having a direct one-to-one perception of the world. Space and time are clearly qualia too !

Turn the light on

apparently, they agree that there is no time for their hair.

Abstract thought is good but this is going into ludicrous speed.

If space and time don't exist, the we must cancel the Olympic games. Oh, and nobody will ever again be entitled to 'overtime'. And 'the space race', of course, never happened. But 'never' doesn't make sense.

10:05 - 10:22

Scale and Relativity are the contrast and value of the Cosmos, for every point in reality, these determine all characteristics held within, all this pandering about Time and Space is just humoring the conceptions about the words generally used to describe concepts which are inherent to the Cosmos.

Julian become mysticism

Well, hmmmm , I think of a question that I heard awhile ago. Does a tree that falls in a forest make a sound if no one is there to experience it.

THERE IS NEVER "ART" ON THIS CHANNEL. Scientists and low level science philosophers (I don't recall any reputed philosopher, Ziizek is half philosopher , half redudndant self-promoter). 95% "hard" scientists, the rest mediocre philosophers, very few sociologists, no artists. Why the name? I resent when institutions are so pretentious, disregarding and ignoring entire fields of human activity.

I dont have time to watch this!

There is a fundamental flaw in this debate, no consideration been given to Backward Time. There are a number of Arxiv papers utilising this concept, also Feynman said that Antimatter was really Matter subject to his form of time. From a scientific perspective Big Bang needs to be changed to allow for the survival of antimatter not it's mutual destruction. (Hence Dark Matter = Antimatter on a large scale, having survived destruction via a cosmic mechanism of the Alternate Quantum Phase). Hence you cannot have a proper debate on time without consideration of Backward Time. Another interesting conclusion would be in the Time + Backward Time universe is that Universal Entropy is constant. Furthermore Kramer(Kramer's Theorem etc, also known as the Vilna Gaon in Jewish circles) held that there is no such thing as philosophy in either the physical or metaphysical realms. One should be able to understand physical issues with clarity in the knowledge that G-D created everything and set a framework of physical laws within which the integrity of matter etc is preserved(For our benefit) In fact all things exist within G-D. Thus Philosophy is ultimately useless, once you accept that the universe exists and functions according to his will.

If humans didn't exist will we still have space and time?

Does a simulated universe require coded spacetime?

First male speaker says time has two definitions but Physicists meaning for time does not include past present and future , he actually gives no definition , just what it is not

What you do every day without ever thinking about it somehow seems hard to explain. Funny isn't it. I make a cheesecake once a year for my son's birthday. We all enjoy it. Maybe if you compare it from year to year, it may seem a little different but not intentionally.

For this people space is an object. For this people time is an object. For this people spacetime is an object. What is an object?

Muslim philosphers has lost centuries debating about space...you should include their ideas also in your research

time is a set of boundaries encapsulating experiences. No boundaries = no time