Last edited Tue Feb 2, 2016, 09:52 AM - Edit history (1)
The tale of Achilles and the tortoise shows that there is no least unit of time.
Zeno's paradoxes are based on our perception of motion as continuous. Zeno shows that this involves paradox whether we consider time to be continuous or discrete or space to be continuous or discrete. The arrow paradox is where Zeno shows that if time is discrete, motion is impossible.
The quote from Faizal addresses this, as well as the opinion of Alfred North Whitehead (I think) who declared, "Time is not a motion picture." Reality is reality, and not subject to being bounded by the artificial construct of mathematics.
Faizal, of course, is a co-author of the paper that is proposing that time is discrete. So, he believes that motion is discontinuous, and our perception of motion pictures indicates that we can perceive discontinuous motion as continuous. Yes, of course, reality is reality; but reality is not necessarily as we perceive it to be.
As far as
artificial mathematical constructs go, Faizal is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo. The article also suggests some ways that the idea may be tested.
Time is not a motion picture seems tautological. If Whitehead actually said this, I'd like to see the context.
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