Lead
Time is a well-known but indescribable concept, we often say that time is wasted, but if you stand in a place where others can't see, how can you prove that you have waited here for an hour?
So how does time prove its existence in relation to this question?
But if we think about it another way, can we prove that time does not exist?
Experiments have shown that the perception of time requires a reference, to be precise, that is, people perceive time through the sun, so if experiments to isolate humans can prove that time does not exist?
In 2004, NASA conducted an experiment that gave people a new understanding of time, and this experiment was conducted by Stephanie, what happened to her during the experiment?
Life exists in time, so how will human beings experience changes in an environment where there is no concept of time?
1. How humans perceive time.
Time is the existence of the universe, but how do the various substances in the universe perceive time?
Human beings perceive time through the sun, and the study of time can be traced back to ancient times, when the ancients sensed time through tools such as sundials and water leaks.
However, these tools perceive time in a day, and cannot accurately perceive the length of time.
It wasn't until the Middle Ages that people were able to accurately perceive time through the invention of mechanical clocks.
So why does the length of time a sundial perceive?
This is because the Earth's axis of rotation is not upright, but tilted, so the length of time perceived by sundials at different locations is also different.
However, with the development of science and technology, people gradually discovered that the rotation speed of the earth is not constant, but will be affected by the gravitational pull of the moon, so the length of time will also change.
In order to accurately perceive the length of time, people began to divide the world into 24 time zones in 1955, and the time of each time zone is based on the 24-hour period of the earth's rotation.
But in real life, people find that with the division of time zones, the time in some cities is not accurate, why is that?
In fact, this is because the rotation of the earth is not uniform, and the rotation speed of the earth will be affected by the gravitational pull of the moon, the sun and other planets, so the rotation speed of the earth will change.
The Earth is a flattened oval, so the speed of the Earth's rotation or revolution is not constant.
So on the surface of the earth, how do people accurately perceive the length of time?
The human biological clock perceives time through sunlight, so it is easy for people to perceive the confusion of time in an environment without the sun.
NASA's experiments have confirmed this, but how many people can perceive the passage of time in the absence of the sun?
2. The isolation environment will affect the biological clock.
NASA's experiment was conducted in 2004, and NASA has such a project called "Human Segregated Environment Study" (HBR).
The aim of this project is to study how human beings change in an environment where there is no concept of time in the outside world, and whether the human biological clock is not disturbed.
In 2004, NASA conducted an experiment called the "Underground Life Project" in an underground cave in Arizona, USA, near the Grand Canyon in Colorado.
NASA invited a white woman named Stephanie McDoyle to participate in the experiment.
Stephanie, an electronics engineer with a previous career in avionics engineering research, took part in the experiment with a keen interest in space exploration.
In this experiment, Stephanie was asked to live in complete isolation for 130 days, during which time she was required to perceive the passage of time in an environment without any external time references.
The cave in the experiment was a completely isolated environment, with no sunlight shining through the cave, and Stephanie was required to live in this environment with no concept of time for 130 days, as well as some frequent biological testing.
NASA wanted to use the experiment to reveal how the biological clock changes in isolation, and Stephanie said she was confident that she would live in this environment without a concept of time for 130 days.
A few days before the experiment began, Stephanie performed a series of tests on her biological clock before entering the cavern, which had no concept of time.
On the 24th day of the experiment, scientists conducted a series of tests on Stephanie, and found that Stephanie's menstrual cycle was disordered, but on the 32nd day, Stephanie's menstrual cycle returned to normal.
And on the 46th day, Stephanie's menstrual cycle was disrupted again, this time Stephanie's menstrual cycle was severely disrupted, but on the 55th day, Stephanie's menstrual cycle returned to normal.
Stephanie's menstrual cycle is normal and fluctuating, but the disordered cycle lasts more than 10 days, and the normal cycle is only three or four days.
On the 120th day, Stephanie's life finally ended, and she successfully lived in this environment without the concept of time for 130 days, and at the moment of walking out of the cave, Stephanie also asked curiously: "I have lived in the cave for 130 days, but I don't know what is going on outside?"
3. Whether time exists or not.
Time is a fundamental dimension of the universe, but in the distant universe, there is no human perception of the existence of time, so will time exist?
But if humans leave the earth, how will they perceive the existence of time?
According to Einstein, time is a relative concept, a tool used by humans to perceive the laws of the universe.
Hawking, on the other hand, argues that time and space, like each other, are part of the universe and are a fundamental dimension.
NASA's experiment has also given people a new understanding of time and how complex it is.
Einstein and Hawking have different understandings of time, so does time exist or not?
Time is a tool that people use to perceive the laws of the universe, and it does not exist without an environment that humans perceive.
However, through a series of studies, people have found that the biological clock is so susceptible to the influence of the environment, and people's biological clock needs the sun as a reference to perceive the existence of time.
Therefore, the cognition of time is like a complex three-dimensional puzzle, which requires a variety of factors to be pieced together to perceive the existence of time.
But NASA's experiment is also controversial, because it only uses one experimenter to reveal whether the change of the biological clock in an isolated environment can represent the existence of human perception of time.
epilogue
Time is the existence of the universe, but human cognition of time is so subjective, and the cognition of time is affected by the environment and the internal physiological mechanisms of organisms.
Although NASA's experiment has limitations, it has also given people a new understanding of time, and human beings need to consider the knowledge of physics, biology and other fields when exploring the nature of time.