Thursday 15 August 2013

Theory of relativity

Einstein's theory of relativity relates time to mass and to gravity, you can find a good but simple explanation of how that works from Juggernaut on Yahoo.

But very very basically it means that people in different locations (distances from the gravity source) will experience time differently.

Thus I hypothesise that people waiting for a bus experience time differently to GMT.  However, in Einstein's theory two people in the same place should be experiencing time moving at the same rate.

Not so for the bus theory which is based on the following factors.


  1. In how much of a hurry you are to complete your journey.
The more important to you that you get moving and arrive at your destination at a particular GMT the longer it takes the bus to arrive.


    2. The weather and your preparedness for it.

If it it raining and you do not have any wet weather clothing or an umbrella time slows.  It goes a little faster if you have waterproofs.  If it is very sunny and you are wearing warmer clothes with no opportunity to remove layers time slows.  Snow is invariably slowing.

    3. The requirement for a public convenience.

Time slows greatly in such a need.  No further comment required methinks we have all been there!

   4. Your mood.

This is the biggest and most variable factor.  If you are relaxed and in a good mood then time flows along quite nicely and the wait does not appear as onerous.  However if you are in a bad mood, everything is an annoyance and time crawls.  Now the influences on mood are many which is why it is so variable.  How work went, if you are looking forward to something, factors 1 - 3 as above, meeting bus friends or not, but this factor is twice as important as the other in how quickly or slowly the time passes.

So two people waiting at the same stop for the same bus for the same number of seconds, minuets will have different views of the passage of time based on their state of mind.  To a certain extent we see and experience the world and the movement of time not as it is but as we are feeling.


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