- #1
analyst5
- 190
- 2
I've been thinking about the geometry of spacetime itself, and it has really been mind-blowing in some way. If space and time are so alike that we can treat them in a way that objects have a temporal extension as well as a spatial one, my question will be about this fact.
So let's suppose that we have a worldtube of an object that is extendended in bot space and time.
If we imagine the time component to be a line composed of timelike events that follow each other like on some sort of a historical timeline, does that mean that the endpoint of the cause (the previous event) is the beginning of the effect (the event that follows)?
For instance : If we imagine some event on the worldtube that lasts 4 second, and we consider it to be a length in time, which connects 2 points, will the event that follows, no matter how long it lasts, start from the endpoint of the event that I mentioned before. So is it valid to conclude that when saying 'cause comes before the effect' we mean that the effect starts in the same point where the cause ended. This question may be kind of metaphysical, but I'm also interested how would the geometry of space-time itself include the concept of change? Is the change, no matter what kind of physical phenomenon is in question, a point in time where the state of different properties swithces, or is the case there is more than one point in question, that two instants are sufficient for the change to occur? Of course, I'm seeking an answer from a geometrical perspective because I think everything else is pretty much irrelevant when talking about spacetime, and I saw that many other forum members agree on this.
Regards, analyst
So let's suppose that we have a worldtube of an object that is extendended in bot space and time.
If we imagine the time component to be a line composed of timelike events that follow each other like on some sort of a historical timeline, does that mean that the endpoint of the cause (the previous event) is the beginning of the effect (the event that follows)?
For instance : If we imagine some event on the worldtube that lasts 4 second, and we consider it to be a length in time, which connects 2 points, will the event that follows, no matter how long it lasts, start from the endpoint of the event that I mentioned before. So is it valid to conclude that when saying 'cause comes before the effect' we mean that the effect starts in the same point where the cause ended. This question may be kind of metaphysical, but I'm also interested how would the geometry of space-time itself include the concept of change? Is the change, no matter what kind of physical phenomenon is in question, a point in time where the state of different properties swithces, or is the case there is more than one point in question, that two instants are sufficient for the change to occur? Of course, I'm seeking an answer from a geometrical perspective because I think everything else is pretty much irrelevant when talking about spacetime, and I saw that many other forum members agree on this.
Regards, analyst