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Please also note that we do not accept unsolicited posts and we cannot review, or open new threads for, unsolicited articles or papers. Requests to review or post such materials will not be answered. If you have your own novel physics theory or model, which you would like to post for further discussion among then FQXi community, then please add them directly to the "Alternative Models of Reality" thread, or to the "Alternative Models of Cosmology" thread. Thank you.
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What Is “Fundamental”
October 28, 2017 to January 22, 2018
Sponsored by the Fetzer Franklin Fund and The Peter & Patricia Gruber Foundation
read/discuss • winners
Wandering Towards a Goal
How can mindless mathematical laws give rise to aims and intention?
December 2, 2016 to March 3, 2017
Contest Partner: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Fund.
read/discuss • winners
Trick or Truth: The Mysterious Connection Between Physics and Mathematics
Contest Partners: Nanotronics Imaging, The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, and The John Templeton Foundation
Media Partner: Scientific American
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How Should Humanity Steer the Future?
January 9, 2014 - August 31, 2014
Contest Partners: Jaan Tallinn, The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, The John Templeton Foundation, and Scientific American
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It From Bit or Bit From It
March 25 - June 28, 2013
Contest Partners: The Gruber Foundation, J. Templeton Foundation, and Scientific American
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Questioning the Foundations
Which of Our Basic Physical Assumptions Are Wrong?
May 24 - August 31, 2012
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Is Reality Digital or Analog?
November 2010 - February 2011
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What's Ultimately Possible in Physics?
May - October 2009
Contest Partners: Astrid and Bruce McWilliams
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The Nature of Time
August - December 2008
read/discuss • winners
Previous Contests
What Is “Fundamental”
October 28, 2017 to January 22, 2018
Sponsored by the Fetzer Franklin Fund and The Peter & Patricia Gruber Foundation
read/discuss • winners
Wandering Towards a Goal
How can mindless mathematical laws give rise to aims and intention?
December 2, 2016 to March 3, 2017
Contest Partner: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Fund.
read/discuss • winners
Trick or Truth: The Mysterious Connection Between Physics and Mathematics
Contest Partners: Nanotronics Imaging, The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, and The John Templeton Foundation
Media Partner: Scientific American
read/discuss • winners
How Should Humanity Steer the Future?
January 9, 2014 - August 31, 2014
Contest Partners: Jaan Tallinn, The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, The John Templeton Foundation, and Scientific American
read/discuss • winners
It From Bit or Bit From It
March 25 - June 28, 2013
Contest Partners: The Gruber Foundation, J. Templeton Foundation, and Scientific American
read/discuss • winners
Questioning the Foundations
Which of Our Basic Physical Assumptions Are Wrong?
May 24 - August 31, 2012
Contest Partners: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, SubMeta, and Scientific American
read/discuss • winners
Is Reality Digital or Analog?
November 2010 - February 2011
Contest Partners: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation and Scientific American
read/discuss • winners
What's Ultimately Possible in Physics?
May - October 2009
Contest Partners: Astrid and Bruce McWilliams
read/discuss • winners
The Nature of Time
August - December 2008
read/discuss • winners
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RECENT POSTS IN THIS TOPIC
Cristi Stoica: on 12/24/08 at 16:11pm UTC, wrote Dear Dr. Foundalis, I like the explanation based on adaptation, which you...
Harry E. Foundalis: on 10/21/08 at 9:19am UTC, wrote Essay Abstract In physics, the following puzzle exists: there...
RECENT FORUM POSTS
Georgina Woodward: ""The motion of the solar system, and the orientation of the plane of the..." in Why Time Might Not Be an...
Jim Snowdon: "On the permanently dark side of the Earth, the stars would appear to stay..." in The Nature of Time
Georgina Woodward: "Hi Jorma, some thoughts; You mention mutual EM connection. I think you..." in Why Time Might Not Be an...
Joe Fisher: "Dear Dr. Kuhn, Today’s Closer To Truth Facebook page contained this..." in Can Time Be Saved From...
Joe Fisher: "Dear Dr. Kuhn, Today’s Closer To Truth Facebook page contained this..." in Can Time Be Saved From...
akash hasan: "Some students have an interest in researching and space exploration. I..." in Announcing Physics of the...
Michael Jordan: "Excellent site. Plenty of helpful information here. I am sending it to some..." in Review of "Foundations of...
Anonymous: "Excellent site. Plenty of helpful information here. I am sending it to some..." in Constructing a Theory of...
RECENT ARTICLES
click titles to read articles
Can Time Be Saved From Physics?
Philosophers, physicists and neuroscientists discuss how our sense of time’s flow might arise through our interactions with external stimuli—despite suggestions from Einstein's relativity that our perception of the passage of time is an illusion.
Thermo-Demonics
A devilish new framework of thermodynamics that focuses on how we observe information could help illuminate our understanding of probability and rewrite quantum theory.
Gravity's Residue
An unusual approach to unifying the laws of physics could solve Hawking's black-hole information paradox—and its predicted gravitational "memory effect" could be picked up by LIGO.
Could Mind Forge the Universe?
Objective reality, and the laws of physics themselves, emerge from our observations, according to a new framework that turns what we think of as fundamental on its head.
Dissolving Quantum Paradoxes
The impossibility of building a perfect clock could help explain away microscale weirdness.
Cristi Stoica: on 12/24/08 at 16:11pm UTC, wrote Dear Dr. Foundalis, I like the explanation based on adaptation, which you...
Harry E. Foundalis: on 10/21/08 at 9:19am UTC, wrote Essay Abstract In physics, the following puzzle exists: there...
RECENT FORUM POSTS
Georgina Woodward: ""The motion of the solar system, and the orientation of the plane of the..." in Why Time Might Not Be an...
Jim Snowdon: "On the permanently dark side of the Earth, the stars would appear to stay..." in The Nature of Time
Georgina Woodward: "Hi Jorma, some thoughts; You mention mutual EM connection. I think you..." in Why Time Might Not Be an...
Joe Fisher: "Dear Dr. Kuhn, Today’s Closer To Truth Facebook page contained this..." in Can Time Be Saved From...
Joe Fisher: "Dear Dr. Kuhn, Today’s Closer To Truth Facebook page contained this..." in Can Time Be Saved From...
akash hasan: "Some students have an interest in researching and space exploration. I..." in Announcing Physics of the...
Michael Jordan: "Excellent site. Plenty of helpful information here. I am sending it to some..." in Review of "Foundations of...
Anonymous: "Excellent site. Plenty of helpful information here. I am sending it to some..." in Constructing a Theory of...
RECENT ARTICLES
click titles to read articles
Can Time Be Saved From Physics?
Philosophers, physicists and neuroscientists discuss how our sense of time’s flow might arise through our interactions with external stimuli—despite suggestions from Einstein's relativity that our perception of the passage of time is an illusion.
Thermo-Demonics
A devilish new framework of thermodynamics that focuses on how we observe information could help illuminate our understanding of probability and rewrite quantum theory.
Gravity's Residue
An unusual approach to unifying the laws of physics could solve Hawking's black-hole information paradox—and its predicted gravitational "memory effect" could be picked up by LIGO.
Could Mind Forge the Universe?
Objective reality, and the laws of physics themselves, emerge from our observations, according to a new framework that turns what we think of as fundamental on its head.
Dissolving Quantum Paradoxes
The impossibility of building a perfect clock could help explain away microscale weirdness.
FQXi FORUM
May 26, 2019
CATEGORY:
The Nature of Time Essay Contest (2008)
[back]
TOPIC: Why Does Time “Flow” but Space Is? Answers in Evolution and Cognition by Harry E. Foundalis [refresh]
TOPIC: Why Does Time “Flow” but Space Is? Answers in Evolution and Cognition by Harry E. Foundalis [refresh]
Essay Abstract
In physics, the following puzzle exists: there appears to be a physical device, the human brain, which manages to detect properties absent from the formulas of physics; namely, the one-way direction of time and its “flowing” quality. So, either (a) these two properties are physical and physics is an incomplete theory, or (b) they are cognitive (reducible to quantum physics after several levels of reduction, i.e., the neurobiological and chemical levels) and physics is complete as far as our knowledge of time is concerned. This essay claims that (b) is true: both the directionality and the flowing quality of time emerged as evolutionary adaptations in cognitively complex animal species. The main contribution of this essay is to explain why these adaptations emerged in such species, and thus to help disengage discussions on the directionality and flowing quality of time from physics proper.
Author Bio
Harry E. Foundalis has a Ph.D. in cognitive science (2006) from Indiana University, an M.Sc. in computer science, and a B.Sc. in mathematics. He also has keen interests in physics, astronomy, biology, cosmology, philosophy, classic literature, and more.
Download Essay PDF File
In physics, the following puzzle exists: there appears to be a physical device, the human brain, which manages to detect properties absent from the formulas of physics; namely, the one-way direction of time and its “flowing” quality. So, either (a) these two properties are physical and physics is an incomplete theory, or (b) they are cognitive (reducible to quantum physics after several levels of reduction, i.e., the neurobiological and chemical levels) and physics is complete as far as our knowledge of time is concerned. This essay claims that (b) is true: both the directionality and the flowing quality of time emerged as evolutionary adaptations in cognitively complex animal species. The main contribution of this essay is to explain why these adaptations emerged in such species, and thus to help disengage discussions on the directionality and flowing quality of time from physics proper.
Author Bio
Harry E. Foundalis has a Ph.D. in cognitive science (2006) from Indiana University, an M.Sc. in computer science, and a B.Sc. in mathematics. He also has keen interests in physics, astronomy, biology, cosmology, philosophy, classic literature, and more.
Download Essay PDF File
Dear Dr. Foundalis,
I like the explanation based on adaptation, which you provide for our EGN worldview and for the perception of time as flowing. Nice essay.
Best regards,
Cristi Stoica
I like the explanation based on adaptation, which you provide for our EGN worldview and for the perception of time as flowing. Nice essay.
Best regards,
Cristi Stoica
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