Speed as a Brake: Why We Are Living in The Past
Today, few people in modern society will be surprised by the fact that the light from the Sun reaches the Earth in 8 minutes. Which means that, if the Sun goes out, we find out about it with delay. This is related to the enormous (by earth standards) distance and speed, with which the light overcomes it. When you look at the moon, you actually see it for what it was 2 seconds ago.
In the framework of our planet we live on very small speeds, and therefore don't feel a pause between what happens and our perception. Under normal conditions it is imperceptible, but at great distances it is quite noticeable.
If think about it deeper, it turns out that we will come to very interesting conclusions relative to our existence in the Universe…
Example of the Sun shows that any information/data/particles can't be transmitted instantly, everything has its own speed. What you see is limited by the speed of light: the farther away from you is the observed object, the more its image lags behind its actual position.
At a distance of 1 meter, the gap will be 0,000003 seconds.
we can see objects only because they reflect and refract light rays image source
What you hear is limited by the speed of sound, which in 900.000 times less than the speed of light (300 000 km/s vs 0,33 km/s). If I said the word, you will see how opened my mouth in 900.000 times faster, than will hear what I said.
If at this point you will begin to move at a speed greater than the speed of sound, then you will not hear what I said. My word, literally, will not catch up your ears.
But that's not all! Information outside, should reach the main organ in our body, which will be able to interpret and perceive it- it’s our brain ( neurons are the conductors of these data ).
The transmission of nerve impulses is inferior in speed, even the speed of sound (it is approximately 250 km/h, and speed of sound 1193 km/h). Information between neurons is transmitted in the speed range from 0.5-100 meters per second.
Our own body is an even greater constraint than the external environment.
If you will send your mind from Los Angeles to New-York in two ways: first in the air, shouting it, and second through the wire which made of neurons… the neural signal through the wire will come on 12 hours later.
For example: a signal from the foot, will reach the spinal cord only in 0.1 second! On average, any signal from the skin, tongue, muscles, retina is lagging approximately 0.1 second.
Evolution has been shaping such limitations of our perceptual millions of years. She does nothing for nothing, we perceive everything with the speed that's necessary to survival of our species on this planet.
0,000003 seconds here, 0.1 there, it seems insignificant, but in fact we not only can't see the future, we don't even see the present, our consciousness lives in the past. Now look at any object near you, it's like a photo that was taken-thousandth of a second ago. A real object is always ahead of you.
From the point of view of science, everything you see, hear, feel, perceive is an echo from the past, as the light of long dead stars in night sky. Nothing in our life is not happening here and now.
sources: Neuron, Speed of light, The transmission of information between neurons, Brain against science, Theory of relativity
Hi @natord, I just stopped back to let you know your post was one of my favourite reads yesterday and I included it in my Steemit Ramble. You can read what I wrote about your post here.