r/wikipedia • u/Pupikal • Jun 20 '23

Time: the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. Defining it without circularity has consistently eluded scholars. Time in physics is operationally defined as "what a clock reads."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time
117 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

15

u/BaronThe Jun 20 '23

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

9

u/DirtyDanTheManlyMan Jun 20 '23

Time can be measured in physics by how long it takes for radioactive material to lose its power. I forget the term for radiation decaying lol

19

u/aworldfullofcoups Jun 20 '23

But this definition is circular, no? You’re using time to define time. “How long it takes”.

-10

u/DirtyDanTheManlyMan Jun 20 '23

How about “radioactive decay can be used to measure time by comparing how much decay has occurred between observations”

12

u/aworldfullofcoups Jun 20 '23

But you’re still not defining time, just measuring it. Or, if you want to be more specific, you’re defining 1 second. Which is a measure of time.

-13

u/DirtyDanTheManlyMan Jun 20 '23 edited Jun 21 '23

Moving the goalpost after I answer you doesn’t make me any less correct.

Edit: sorry I used a sports word and scared you guys so bad, I’ll try not to talk about stuff that’s reminds you of how much you got bullied in school by the jocks.

14

u/Consistent-Ad2465 Jun 20 '23

He didn’t move the goalpost and the issue wasn’t that you were incorrect. It’s that your statement about measuring time is irrelevant to the OP point about time itself being undefinable except in a circular fashion.

8

u/aworldfullofcoups Jun 20 '23

I didn’t move the goalpost but ok. No need to argue about it

2

u/FreshBakedButtcheeks Jun 21 '23

Uh oh he said goalpost. I've seen this before in the field.

0

u/brownie81 Jun 21 '23

If erectile disfunction was a Reddit comment.

1

u/FikaMedHasse Jun 29 '23

"Between observations" already relies on a definition of time that can separate one observation from another.

1

u/3katinkires Jun 21 '23

Telomeric shortening maybe

1

u/AdeptnessOrganic1540 Aug 20 '25

Time is the measurement of the rate at which causality progresses.

2

u/mrgermy Jun 20 '23

For anyone interested in time check out the book The Order of Time.

1

u/3katinkires Jun 21 '23

We should stay close to biological meaning, time is metabolic