Definition of time in physics, philosophy, psychology and literature

The article tells about the definition of time in various fields of science, about what it is and how it can be relative.

Start

It is believed that our ancient ancestors resembled us only in appearance, and even then very distantly. And that they acquired all human qualities, judgments and psychology that were familiar to us only with the appearance of the species Homo sapiens. But this argument can be argued. For example, scientists found the graves of our ancestral ancestors several million years old, and it was found that even flowers were brought to the burial places!

For all the incredibility of the fact - it's true. At the graves were found traces of accumulations of pollen of plants, which grew quite elsewhere. So, our ancestors already had some ideas about the afterlife. Perhaps it is abstract thinking and imagination that is the line between animal and human.

Kinds

The definition of time can be attributed to a number of things and disciplines, such as physics, psychology, philosophy, literature and art. In the classical sense, this is a quantity determined by the duration of a process: whether the decay of a radioactive element in an atomic clock or the motion of a planet around its axis is a change of day. In the article we will discuss each of them in detail. Let's start with the simplest.

Metrological

In metrology, the time is determined by three parameters. On the coordinate axis, when the determination takes place on a scale or takes its count depending on certain data. For example, all known calendars, clocks, chronometers, local and universal time.

The second type is relative. In this case, the measurement occurs between the moments of any two events. For example, between morning awakening and going to sleep.

Well, the third and last parameter is subjective. It is measured by several different frequency processes. In simpler terms, this is exactly the case, where, depending on the situation, time for a person lasts at different rates, subjectively for him.

These are the most common examples of such a complex concept. But is it possible to give a definition of time? After all, this is one of the universal properties of matter along with space.

Explanatory Dictionaries

If you resort to the help of dictionaries, you can see that each author and compiler applies, though close to others, but his explanation of what time is. For example, Ozhegov gave this definition as follows: "The interval of this or that duration, in which something happens, the successive change of hours, days, years." This is the literary definition of the word "time".

Philosophy

In this science, everything is somewhat more complicated, and to the question of what time is, each philosopher answers in his own way. But fortunately, there is also a generally accepted definition. According to the encyclopedia, time in philosophy is an irreversible course of events that moves from the past through the present and strives toward the future.

This problem was also asked by the ancient figures of science, and the debate has not subsided to this day, after several thousand years. And one of the first to think about this was the well-known Plato.

According to his works and ideas, time in philosophy is (a definition was given to them so) "a moving semblance of eternity." And a little later his ideas were developed and supplemented by no less wise Aristotle, calling the time "a measure of movement."

Psychology

In psychology everything is somewhat simpler. And the course of time or other manifestations of it are measured exclusively by the observer. Simply put, as already mentioned, for all the time goes in different ways. When we are irritated, tired or engaged in monotonous unloved work, it lasts much slower than usual, as if specially. And vice versa - when the mood is excellent and nothing disturbs, with surprise you notice how imperceptibly it flies.

So the saying "lovers do not watch hours", there is a very scientific justification - in this condition, the concentration of endorphin (a hormone of happiness) in the blood increases significantly, and time goes faster.

What is time in physics? Definition

If we take as the basis the laws of classical physics, then it is a continuous quantity that is not determined in any way. And for convenience in life, as a basis for its measurement, a certain sequence of events is taken, for example, periods of the Earth's rotation around its axis, the Sun or the work of the clock mechanism.

But the most interesting thing begins if we take a closer look at relativistic physics. According to it, time has the property of slowing down or accelerating, and this is not a fantasy: we encounter such phenomena every day in everyday life, but they are so miserable that we do not notice.

Simply put, time can slow down and accelerate under the influence of gravitational forces. For example, on the first floor of a skyscraper and at the last one the clock will go at different speeds, but under normal conditions this will not be noticed, so small will be the difference. But if they are brought to a black hole, then their progress compared to those left on the Earth will be slower.

Time. Literary definition

If we take as a basis the work, then this is the premise of the plot deployment. As in reality, in fiction it develops from the past to the future. But sometimes special techniques such as insertions from the past hero or heroes are used.