A first for me on this thread: "Chris Botti in Boston" http://www.amazon.com/Chris-Botti-Boston/dp/B00192KCH4 This is a phenomenal CD. When I was younger and [completely] broke, I would spend my money going to see Miles Davis play, in Chicago and in NYC. Imo, Chris Botti has the most [blue] romantic horn since Davis. Green Mill. Gawd I miss those days...
Time is not absolute; it is relative, however. So unless you happen to be driving a car at the speed of light, the notion of time being irrelevant really doesn't apply to us mortals. Speaking of cosmological relativity properties doesn't apply to our pragmatic experience much either, as we operate at different levels. It's like saying tachyons move at the speed of light, or particles can be entangled billions of light years away; regardless, we'll never experience that in our limited forms. There is such a thing as a "now" with regards to the big bang, it is a point of reference; much like a ground potential is to a circuit voltage. We measure relative properties of time, the same way we measure relative properties of circuits in the above argument. Some interesting ideas, though. Thanks for sharing fun topics. Much more interesting than the political drivel that goes on here.
Lost track of this thread. I'm wrong on the quote. I've been wrong for decades about who to attribute it to; it was Thomas Wheeler. The quote does imply all the things you're citing here as in time only being a concept we impose on an indifferent universe. Entropy is used as a way to suggest times arrow points in the classical direction but theres just as much organization as there is the other when you bring natural selection into the picture. All ears on Chris Botti. Great stuff, discovered him when Sting used him. That along with Marsalis were some of Stings best years.
Ok, a trading book makes an appearance: http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Geometry-Modeling-Finance-Mathematics/dp/1420086995/ref=pd_sim_b_11 This book is on it's way from Amazon. I have a very special fondness for this particular metaphor, a bridge between, the language of trading and Physics/Mathematics. This book even has an appendix with a dictionary so that Physicists and Mathematicians can translate what objects in Phynance correspond to what they are used to talking about in their own domain. Very very nice. If anyone has comments on this book and it's material, I would be interested in hearing it.
Since I don't know who Thomas Wheeler is, I can believe he said something like that. Yeah, the citation of entropy has been used as an explanation for time. To me this is not even close. Time and entropy are consequences of something much deeper. I doubt we see anything close to a solution to it in this century. It is 22nd century physics, imo. Here is an example of the research that is going on now: http://www.physorg.com/news98468776.html Or if you want more formal: http://physics.usc.edu/~bars/twoTph.htm I agree. I like Chris Botti way more than Marsalis, but that is just taste.
I honestly don't know what to think about it. The parallels may be accidental of course. I believe in accidents. This one is a bit eerie.
I hear you. I don't know if you read much on the fiction side, but there was an interesting book I read, titled, "Dante's equation," by Jane Jensen. http://cgi.ebay.com/Dantes-Equation...e9b0aebe&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|293%3A1|294%3A50 (You'll notice the shape on the cover emulates the kaballah tree). It's a pretty interesting fiction read, combining aspects of modern physics, time travel, and the kaballah. Pretty interesting, if you are familiar with the kaballah a bit.
Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (Paperback) by Marcus Du Sautoy Marcus Du Sautoy (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Symmetry-Jour...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251691939&sr=8-1 An interesting take on one of the most beautiful subjects of mathematics. He also wrote another book which I greatly enjoyed: http://books.google.com/books?id=3w...esult&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false
I am reduced to reading at night in bed I am so busy. I just finished this book and I highly recommend it. It gives an alternative solution to inflation (cyclic creation), and it is far more elegant using ideas from String/M Theory, and rings true. This thesis will rewrite Particle Cosmology textbooks. Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang -- Rewriting Cosmic History (Paperback) http://www.amazon.com/Endless-Unive...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254927568&sr=8-1