On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:40:44 -0700, Immortalist wrote:
> What sort of things are they if they are things? > > One natural answer is that they comprise continua, three-dimensional in > the case of space, one-dimensional in the case of time; that is to say > that they consist of continuous manifolds, positions in which can be > occupied by substances and events respectively, and which have an > existence in their own right. > > It is in virtue of the occupancy of such positions that events and > processes are to be seen as taking place after each other and substances > are to be seen in certain spatial relations. > > Or do space and time have properties of their own independent of the > objects and events that they contain? > > Did Einstein show, through his theory of relativity, that since space > and time can change in shape and duration that space and time are more > complex than just sustained perceptual constants? > > Metaphysics - by D. W. Hamlyn > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521286905/
There are two 'things' here. The first is change, the second is the application of numbers to change or time. Einstein showed numbers. Time being change by digits, the more direct question is what is change?
I think future generations, if coping drug free, are going to put numbers in a more realistic perspective. We have gone ga-ga over them since the late 1800's and have assumed way too much with them.
Anyway imo now, the property of change is potential, it's state is non- duration. Space is an arbitrary assignment relative to specific objects, objects big and small that are still being discovered with each new scope.
