Peter Pan Stopped Time

Posted by Gramarye on May 3, 2011, 11:51 a.m.

If time was stopped, then you wouldn't cast a shadow. Normally, a shadow appears when you block the path of light so it can't reach a spot. But if time was stopped, light wouldn't move, and therefore it wouldn't matter if you blocked its path. Your shadow would actually stay in the spot where you first stopped time, because the light wouldn't be moving in to fill the spot you blocked. You would 'lose' your shadow until you started time again.

Actually, as I'm writing this, I thought of something else that basically invalidates it. How would you even be able to see? Your eyes depend on light bouncing off of surfaces and then into their receptors. No time, no movement; no movement, receptors get nothing. What if you were walking? You would actually be moving your eyes and their receptors into the light particles. What would that be like?

C'mon, somebody, lend me your time-stopping device, I've got to do some experimentation.

Comments

Cesar 13 years, 6 months ago

Yes, theoretically you can but practically it's impossible. I'm speaking in practical terms :P

Alert Games 13 years, 6 months ago

In practical terms you cant slow down time, only appear to be moving faster if you are moving at relatively high speeds, making everything else seem slower.

…maybe.

Gramarye 13 years, 6 months ago

This has nothing to do with a show, it's just an odd thought that popped into my head. Probably due to physics class and working on a solar system for a graphics project.

PY 13 years, 6 months ago

That's actually a myth, people feel time moved slower but they don't actually react any faster. Just a fun fact.

Anyway, that doesn't actually sidestep any of the problems. If you've slowed time down 10,000x, and you try to move, you'll snap your bones in half. You manage to touch anything, and even the lightest touch is likely to break it - your hand would be moving so fast it'd be like a bullet. You walk through the air and you'd displace it hard enough to do damage to things around you.

Time manipulation doesn't work - stop thinking about it and enjoy it for the plot device it is.

Moikle 13 years, 6 months ago

But small animals tend to have a faster perception of time, making their reactions much faster. or would that be a slower perception?

The perception of time is unique to each individual.

PY 13 years, 6 months ago

Yeah, but there's never been any evidence that stressful situations give you any faster reaction time. There've been some that show no change, and some that show the opposite effect, though!

firestormx 13 years, 6 months ago

Reaction times (whether small animal, large animal, etc) are based in biology, not physics.

A small animal is not SO SMALL that timespace is effected in a way that is so much different than how humans perceive it. In addition, timespace is effected by all mass, not just the mass attached to an organism's brain. So an atom "on" earth (with all of earth's mass warping timespace) is not going to go as "slow" (slow is used relative to our time) as it would in the vicinity of a black hole, even though the atom would have the same mass itself.

The reaction time in humans during stressful situations is purely brain structure. A lot of people simply dissociate in stressful situations and "shut down", while others become hyperfocused, depending on how their initial genetic makeup, and more importantly, the way the brain has developed in response to the environment.

sirxemic 13 years, 6 months ago

Also interesting to note is that time goes slower when dreaming. According to Inception 5 minutes in the real world equals 1 hour in the dreamworld. And 5 minutes in that dreamworld is equal to 1 hour in the dreamworld in that dreamworld. Of course this is a bit different in reality, but it's certainly interesting how time perception can change so dramatically in the mind.

firestormx 13 years, 6 months ago

Also, if you die, you go to limbo.

…Frig I hate that movie.

Dreaming is also outside of the realm of physics (sort of - physics effects the way your brain works, and of course time encompasses everything). A dream is just neurons firing and/or how you recall the dream once you've woken up.

Everything you perceive is done through your brain, including how long time goes by. You can perceive time going by quite quickly (eg you go on a good date or something), or you can perceive time going by very slowly (eg when you get high).

All that needs to happen in a dream for you to think a certain amount of time has gone by, is for a neuron to fire a certain way. Theoretically, the concept of time in a dream could just be a secondary reaction to what actually happened in a dream. You dreamed you had walked over to the bathroom to pee, and in order to keep the illusion of a comprehensible world, your brain also says "meh, about 30 seconds has gone by".

But if PY wants to throw away the argument due to the fact that time manipulation is not possible, I don't think he'll be pleased about neurons firing outside of conscious control.

Moikle 13 years, 6 months ago

@fsx, thats not what i meant about small animals, i meant that their brain structure allows it to function much faster.