Can the Present ever be seen?

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HZY
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Joined: January 30th, 2013, 11:09 pm

Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by HZY »

Physicists like to say that every time we look through a telescope towards the edge of the universe, we are looking back in time. If so, then how can we ever expect to see it at time Now? Do we have to be physically there to see it? Is there even such a thing as Now that can be precisely defined?
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Atreyu
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Re: Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by Atreyu »

Yes, under normal conditions we would have to be physically there to see any distant objects in their own present.

As far as "precisely" defining "now", I don't think it can be done more than what it already is as a concept. We have an idea of what "now" is, but what we say it is, it clearly is not. Normally, we say "now" is what we are currently perceiving and experiencing. But in reality what we are perceiving is the very recent past, as it takes a fraction of a second for our perceptive and cognitive apparatuses to process the incoming stimuli into a coherent picture of the world.

So no, under normal conditions the present can never be seen.
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Theophane
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Re: Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by Theophane »

Yes, you're looking at it ... right ... now!

Blink and you missed it.
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HZY
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Re: Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by HZY »

Theophane wrote:Yes, you're looking at it ... right ... now!

Blink and you missed it.
Wait, when did you say it happened again?
Logic_ill
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Re: Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by Logic_ill »

Well the past present can be seen, but never the present present...:)
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HZY
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Re: Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by HZY »

Logic_ill wrote:Well the past present can be seen, but never the present present...:)
Couldn't PRP be inferred from PAP?
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Felix
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Re: Can the Present ever be seen?

Post by Felix »

Logic_ill said: Well the past present can be seen, but never the present present.
I used that excuse on my girlfriend's birthday, she didn't go for it. :cry:
Atreyu said: So no, under normal conditions the present can never be seen.
So it can be seen under abnormal circumstances... such as?
"We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are." - Anaïs Nin
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