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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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Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability Essay Contest
December 24, 2019 - April 24, 2020
Contest Partners: Fetzer Franklin Fund, and The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation
read/discuss • winners
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
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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
Contest Partners: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, SubMeta, and Scientific American
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Is Reality Digital or Analog?
November 2010 - February 2011
Contest Partners: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation and Scientific American
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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
Current Essay Contest
Previous Contests
Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability Essay Contest
December 24, 2019 - April 24, 2020
Contest Partners: Fetzer Franklin Fund, and The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation
read/discuss • winners
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...
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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...
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Dr Narayan Bhadra : "For the explanation of Gravitational forces we need to go beyond the..." in The Noise of Gravitons
Dr Narayan Bhadra : "STRUCTURE FORMATION OF BIO-ELEMENTS Dr. Narayan Kumar Bhadra Lakshmipur..." in The Noise of Gravitons
Ulla Mattfolk: "In a statement posted on its website on 27 June, SNRIU said that "due to..." in Global Collaboration
Ulla Mattfolk: "Cont. Of the nuclear countries Sweden and Germany has said no thanks, they..." in Global Collaboration
Steve Dufourny: "Jonathan Dickau ,hope you are well, always cool to have your points of vue,..." in 16th Marcel Grossmann...
Steve Dufourny: "This platform is about theoretical physics, it is irritating to have these..." in 16th Marcel Grossmann...
Steve Dufourny: "I recommand this you tube of Professor Ellis about mind, intelligence,..." in George Ellis - How can...
Steve Dufourny: "irritating these posts, they shall disappear simply because under review..." in George Ellis - How can...
RECENT ARTICLES
click titles to read articles
The Math of Consciousness: Q&A with Kobi Kremnitzer
A meditating mathematician is developing a theory of conscious experience to help understand the boundary between the quantum and classical world.
Can We Feel What It’s Like to Be Quantum?
Underground experiments in the heart of the Italian mountains are testing the links between consciousness and collapse theories of quantum physics.
The Thermodynamic Limits of Intelligence: Q&A with David Wolpert
Calculating the energy needed to acquire and compute information could help explain the (in)efficiency of human brains and guide the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
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Using precision thermometry to make mini heat engines, that might, momentarily, bust through the thermodynamic limit.
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FQXi FORUM
June 30, 2022
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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