- Oct 31, 1999
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I spend a lot of time thinking about general relativity and quantum mechanics. I have no idea why, I'm not a physicist. It just bugs me. I had a random thought on my way into work this morning. Anyway, we all know from Einstein's theory of general relativity that space-time is a single entity. The paradox, of course, being that all of space seems to exist at the present moment, but all of time does not. It seems to be created moment by moment as entropy increases (or perhaps entropy increases because we measure time in that direction).
Either way, the reigning concept seems to be that perhaps all of time does exist and we are simply passing through it. Well, why not the converse? Maybe all of space does not exist at the present time. Maybe it is space that is being created/expanded and time/entropy is simply the measure of that creation/expansion. This may explain why time slows down around massive objects - space expands more slowly in their proximity due to the influence of gravity. I don't know. I'm sure some physicist here has an excellent explanation why that can't work. I've never heard it said before, though.
Either way, the reigning concept seems to be that perhaps all of time does exist and we are simply passing through it. Well, why not the converse? Maybe all of space does not exist at the present time. Maybe it is space that is being created/expanded and time/entropy is simply the measure of that creation/expansion. This may explain why time slows down around massive objects - space expands more slowly in their proximity due to the influence of gravity. I don't know. I'm sure some physicist here has an excellent explanation why that can't work. I've never heard it said before, though.