# If all motion stopped, would time have any meaning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071 "2010-05-19T23:49:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/1 "2010-05-19T23:49:12Z")
Say all motion came to a complete stop for 5 minutes. Would it automatically mean time has stopped for 5 minutes? Or would time continue to “march on” during those 5 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/2 "2010-05-19T23:51:17Z")
Time is a fictitious and abstract concept that really is a measurement of motion; so no. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/3 "2010-05-19T23:53:58Z")
How can time stop ‘for 5 minutes’? ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/4 "2010-05-19T23:54:35Z")
All motion did stop just then. Time had no meaning. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/5 "2010-05-20T00:07:18Z")
It’s really a philosophical question, like a tree falling in the forest with nobody to hear it. If all motion were to stop, then time wouldn’t, but it wouldn’t much matter because you couldn’t tell the difference. Of course, the problem with this kind of “thought experiment” is that when you’re premise is false (in this case not merely untrue at the moment but impossible), then according to the rules of logic, you can draw any conclusion you want. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/6 "2010-05-20T00:10:29Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > How can time stop ‘for 5 minutes’? Good point. I think. Well, maybe not. I dunno. :o ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/7 "2010-05-20T00:12:04Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Say all motion came to a complete stop for 5 minutes. Would it automatically mean time has stopped for 5 minutes? Or would time continue to “march on” during those 5 minutes? How could anything “march” if all motion came to a stop? By its very definition, marching is motion. Was this a trick question? I hope so, because my answer was a trick answer. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/8 "2010-05-20T00:12:27Z")
No, in fact time would have less meaning, relatively speaking of course. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/9 "2010-05-20T00:25:39Z")
Got to thinking… wouldn’t an EM field that was moving \*before \*motion stopped… still be moving while all motion was stopped? If so, could we still say time exists in its normal fashion? This assumes I meant the motion of all \*matter \*stopped. Which I guess is what I meant. Since am EM field is not comprised of matter, I would think it would be unaffected… ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/10 "2010-05-20T01:02:47Z")
The question seems to hinge on what we declare to be _the definition of time_ is the physics sense. Is time a dimension that exists orthoganally and therefore independently of the spatial dimensions just as the x axis would theoretically exist independently of y, z, and any of a number of hypothesized extra dimensions be they curled up tiny or extended? Or is a time a feature emergent of change within the spatial dimensions, even if that change is the movement of light through it alone? It is hard to reconcile. Still I think that we need to defer to the concept that time is defined by being a dimension of spacetime in which events occur, and that without the occurrence of events (and events occurring requires motion) there is no time. [Einstein](http://www.bartleby.com/173/8.html) seemed to endorse this view even as he popularized the conceptualization of time as a geometric dimension. > [@](#): > > We are thus led also to a definition of “time” in physics. For this purpose we suppose that clocks of identical construction are placed at the points A, B and C of the railway line (co-ordinate system), and that they are set in such a manner that the positions of their pointers are simultaneously (in the above sense) the same. Under these conditions we understand by the “time” of an event the reading (position of the hands) of that one of these clocks which is in the immediate vicinity (in space) of the event. In this manner a time-value is associated with every event which is essentially capable of observation. > > This stipulation contains a further physical hypothesis, the validity of which will hardly be doubted without empirical evidence to the contrary. It has been assumed that all these clocks go at the same rate if they are of identical construction. Stated more exactly: When two clocks arranged at rest in different places of a reference-body are set in such a manner that a particular position of the pointers of the one clock is simultaneous (in the above sense) with the same position of the pointers of the other clock, then identical “settings” are always simultaneous (in the sense of the above definition). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/11 "2010-05-20T01:44:23Z")
Does all metabolic activity stop? Do plants continue to absorb nutrients? Does your heart continue to beat? For that matter, do the sun and stars continue to burn? Would you like to rephrase the question? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/12 "2010-05-20T01:50:34Z")
Metabolic activity stops. Plants stop absorbing. Hearts stop beating. Stars don’t burn. Events do not occur. Is time stopped? And if so how could it be even theoretically described as for “how long”? Or does time still exist but is just without meaning? Again, define time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/13 "2010-05-20T06:54:45Z")
If time actually stopped, there would be no difference between a 5-minute interruption and a trillion-year interruption and a whatever-the-shortest-possible-unit-of-time interruption. It’s all equally meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/14 "2010-05-20T07:20:17Z")
Also, if it stopped, it would be impossible to measure that it had done so, nor would anyone be able to try. Movies that show time stopping (often while one or more of the characters remains unaffected) usually get one thing (well, at least one thing) really badly wrong. If time stopped, but you were magically isolated from the phenomenon, how would you be able to see people frozen in the moment, unless photons were also unaffected? ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/15 "2010-05-20T07:31:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Also, if it stopped, it would be impossible to measure that it had done so, nor would anyone be able to try. > > Movies that show time stopping (often while one or more of the characters remains unaffected) usually get one thing (well, at least one thing) really badly wrong. If time stopped, but you were magically isolated from the phenomenon, how would you be able to see people frozen in the moment, unless photons were also unaffected? And how would you be able to breathe? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/16 "2010-05-20T07:44:02Z")
Come on guys, you know how science works. We’ve got a hypothesis, all we need now is to run an experiment. I’ve got one right here all ready to r ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/17 "2010-05-20T07:48:58Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Say all motion came to a complete stop for 5 minutes. Would it automatically mean time has stopped for 5 minutes? Or would time continue to “march on” during those 5 minutes? The last time I renewed my car license I needed a shave afterwards so the answer is no. Time marches on. ---
**Author:** ![Walther\_Ego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Walther\_Ego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walther_Ego)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/18 "2010-05-20T09:54:23Z")
When molecules stop moving, I’m not sure gas is gas anymore. Not that that needs to disturb us, just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/19 "2010-05-20T11:01:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Time is a fictitious and abstract concept that really is a measurement of motion Lunchtime doubly so. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071/20 "2010-05-20T11:26:01Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It’s really a philosophical question, like a tree falling in the forest with nobody to hear it. I have to disagree with this point. Since sound is a transmission of vibrations from an object to an auditory receptor, in this case the human ear+brain, if there is nobody in the forest to receive the sound waves, there can honestly said to be no sound. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-motion-stopped-would-time-have-any-meaning/540071.md?page=2)