Damn, I'll be honest: The dinosaur comparison took me by surprise. I definitely had the T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, et all coexisting at roughly the same time.
Same. And I’m basically a genius so I really should’ve known. I guess it proves that even geniuses can be wrong sometimes. It’s ok. You can still be a genius if you didn’t realize this. I mean, we can’t know literally everything. Just almost everything.
It's been a helluva party! It's like the Earth has been through a lot over the years with Theia, asteroid/comet impacts, cosmic radiation and so forth - the vicissitudes of life have gotten to us over much time and through a lot of impacts.
During closing time at the bar, we are attempting to do just as much damage by taking as many shots of tequila as possible during last call. The hangover is going to SUCK.
The Jeanne Calment example intrigued me. I wish I was lucky to meet her. I would have asked her thousands of questions about Vincent Van Gogh. Thanks for making us think.
Funny you should mention this Andrew… recently saw a video about ancient Egypt and have been thinking about the time-dilated rubber band effect ever since.
Maybe so. We might have just made the whole thing up in our minds so that we can make sense of the little moments we experience. I'm not at all convinced that time is linear, although it certainly does appear that way to us.
It reminds me how late our entry is and what we have achieved. Would we have achieved more if we cooperated across state and national boundaries? Is competition the only way to get here, or is there a better middle path?
Additionally, if there is life somewhere else in the universe, would the transition from a single cell to a complex life form take a similar time frame? If a complex life form like a human started, for example, at 9 PM, how much would they have achieved, and would they still be around? Would they still have wars and technology to travel cosmic distances beyond what we have accomplished, and have they found life beyond their planet, or would they also think they are the only ones? What kind of society would they be, or will we only find AI/robots ruling the world and no biological form?
There is so much to learn and know in a short amount of time in one's human life. However, as Seneca said, “We are not given a short life, but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it…. Life is long if you know how to use it.”
It's interminably long as compared to the shortest amount of time we know of - the Planck unit- and it's unbelievably fleeting as compared to the age of the universe. I think we're right in the middle, both time and size-wise.
Damn, I'll be honest: The dinosaur comparison took me by surprise. I definitely had the T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, et all coexisting at roughly the same time.
What are you, some kind of human or something?
Allegedly.
Same. And I’m basically a genius so I really should’ve known. I guess it proves that even geniuses can be wrong sometimes. It’s ok. You can still be a genius if you didn’t realize this. I mean, we can’t know literally everything. Just almost everything.
I think the fact that you are a genius AND that you don't get this should settle any pesky debate.
EXCELLENT POINT.
Those are the only kinds of points I make. But you know that already! All geniuses do.
I recognize your genius. As we say in our circles, it takes one to know one.
Love thinking about stuff like this. Is good for perspective. Humans doing stuff is wack enough but then you pan out ...
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If we condense Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history into a single year it would go something like this:
- January 1st: Earth forms.
- Mid-March: Life begins.
- December 31st, 11:59:30 PM: Modern humans appear.
- December 31st, 11:59:59 PM: Recorded history starts.
Humanity gets the last 30 seconds of the year and that last second represents all the knowledge we’ve gained and all the things we’ve created.
It's been a helluva party! It's like the Earth has been through a lot over the years with Theia, asteroid/comet impacts, cosmic radiation and so forth - the vicissitudes of life have gotten to us over much time and through a lot of impacts.
During closing time at the bar, we are attempting to do just as much damage by taking as many shots of tequila as possible during last call. The hangover is going to SUCK.
Suck for us; but in these grand timescales Earth don’t care
Lol well put
Earth is the ultimate Honey Badger.
The Jeanne Calment example intrigued me. I wish I was lucky to meet her. I would have asked her thousands of questions about Vincent Van Gogh. Thanks for making us think.
Funny you should mention this Andrew… recently saw a video about ancient Egypt and have been thinking about the time-dilated rubber band effect ever since.
Any other timey-wimey observations? I love stuff that kind of shocks me like that, where I learn my perception of time is all off.
Perhaps time is a human construct that helps us understand change intellectually…?
Maybe so. We might have just made the whole thing up in our minds so that we can make sense of the little moments we experience. I'm not at all convinced that time is linear, although it certainly does appear that way to us.
Excellent post!
I love the representation below of Earth in a 24-hour clock, where a single-cell organism arrived at 2:08 PM, and a human arrived at 11:58:43 PM.
https://i0.wp.com/flowingdata.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Time_Clock.gif?fit=620%2C587&ssl=1
It reminds me how late our entry is and what we have achieved. Would we have achieved more if we cooperated across state and national boundaries? Is competition the only way to get here, or is there a better middle path?
Additionally, if there is life somewhere else in the universe, would the transition from a single cell to a complex life form take a similar time frame? If a complex life form like a human started, for example, at 9 PM, how much would they have achieved, and would they still be around? Would they still have wars and technology to travel cosmic distances beyond what we have accomplished, and have they found life beyond their planet, or would they also think they are the only ones? What kind of society would they be, or will we only find AI/robots ruling the world and no biological form?
There is so much to learn and know in a short amount of time in one's human life. However, as Seneca said, “We are not given a short life, but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it…. Life is long if you know how to use it.”
It's interminably long as compared to the shortest amount of time we know of - the Planck unit- and it's unbelievably fleeting as compared to the age of the universe. I think we're right in the middle, both time and size-wise.
Everything is relative.