Just a thought: We perceive the Universe in 3 dimensions, so the Earth takes time (1 year) to orbit the sun. But from a 4th dimension perspective, Earth would be like a torus around our star. From that perspective, would time would be more like a distance?
If you’re not moving thru space you’re ONLY moving thru time at the speed of light.
I do not consider time to be a thing. Energy, gravity, matter and others are things. Time only exists as some concept / construct which an observer with the ability to remember uses. The things in the universe interact as physics has so far figured out. These interactions happen at different rates depending on the circumstances. But time does not exist as one of those things. An observer that has memory and devices that also interact in predictable divisions in the physical vicinity can note and record those divisions in relation to other events.
But time as a thing does not exist in any physical way. It has no mass, energy or effect caused by itself. Because it is a mental construct.
But it is extremely useful as it is.
Time is good. I’m such a slow-minded person - if there were no time I just couldn’t figure out what this thread is about.
Time is bad - I’m still not getting it, but my head hurts.
There should not be any “background” space-time in quantum gravity the way there is in normal quantum field theory; the classical physical geometries and dynamics should arise from the model.
The idea that some sort of algebra of causality forms part of a new theory is hardly a surprise. Such things see useful application in distributed computing, where formal proof of algorithms is needed or formalisms over distributed hardware systems is needed. I used to worry about such things in a previous life.
What is annoying about the article cited by the OP is that when you get to the end you discover that it is shilling for a new book co-written by the article’s author.
It seems to have done its job. The same article has hit the news feeds down here in Oz. No doubt the book will do well. In fairness, looking at its contents, it might actually be an interesting read.
Eh, as I said, New Scientist and other science magazines run an article like this every single year. They all get picked up online and make news for a day and then are forgotten until the next one.