Alan Alda poses question in new contest for scientists: What is time?

[Festivito]

15. Time is our realization that more than two similar movements occurred.

All measure of time involves movement and can be further characterized as finding more and more consistency of these movements.

The perfect conception of time is a fourth dimension, being one dimension added to the three dimensions we use to describe space, that is space without any movement until time's fourth dimension is added.

The imperfect conception of time is our human conception of measuring time and trying to find more and more consistent movements that describe better and better what we previously measured as consistent. This can lead to us having several different measurements for the above perfect conception of time. For example:

1. a physicist wants to measure with great accuracy for movements large and small and would prefer time measured in some small consistent vibration that can be added together to create a consistent amount of time;

2. a paleontologist wants to describe long numbers of years and prefers rotations around our sun that, again, can be added together to create a consistent amount of time where the actual rotation and angled revolving of our planet effect what he studies more than the number of seconds that transpired in those rotations of the planet.

3. an astro-physicist wants to understand what we might not know yet. How what is consistent here on earth might not remain consistent away from earth or may change beyond our star system and then again it could change again beyond our galaxy, and further as we exit what might be our globule or closeness to one, and on and on again and again as we might discover and name even larger agglomerations in the universe.

4. a philosopher realizes that all these measurements are ego-centric, that is they all evolve around who we are and what we want, what we want sometimes being a desire to understand physics, history and the universe in order to better our own position in our time and maybe, if we are lucky, to extend our lives for a little more time to enjoy the time we have.

And, that's enough time on this.