OK, here's this topic again; I'll bite: I think Albert Einstein pretty much nailed the distinction between physical time and the perception of time:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Conclusion: There exists a unique positive real, epsilon, such that if a man sits on a hot stove with (1 + epsilon) pretty girls, time passes at its usual rate. Sincerely, Adam P. Goucher http://cp4space.wordpress.com
But Adam, this makes the assumption that time is continuous, not discrete. --Dan On 2014-01-17, at 7:32 AM, Adam P. Goucher wrote:
OK, here's this topic again; I'll bite: I think Albert Einstein pretty much nailed the distinction between physical time and the perception of time:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Conclusion: There exists a unique positive real, epsilon, such that if a man sits on a hot stove with (1 + epsilon) pretty girls, time passes at its usual rate.
If a man sits with one or more pretty girls, I hope that the time will pass discreetly. At 09:15 AM 1/17/2014, Dan Asimov wrote:
But Adam, this makes the assumption that time is continuous, not discrete.
--Dan
On 2014-01-17, at 7:32 AM, Adam P. Goucher wrote:
OK, here's this topic again; I'll bite: I think Albert Einstein pretty much nailed the distinction between physical time and the perception of time:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Conclusion: There exists a unique positive real, epsilon, such that if a man sits on a hot stove with (1 + epsilon) pretty girls, time passes at its usual rate.
You're just jealous. Incidentally, are the ladies obliged to sit on the stove too? WFL On 1/17/14, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
If a man sits with one or more pretty girls, I hope that the time will pass discreetly.
At 09:15 AM 1/17/2014, Dan Asimov wrote:
But Adam, this makes the assumption that time is continuous, not discrete.
--Dan
On 2014-01-17, at 7:32 AM, Adam P. Goucher wrote:
OK, here's this topic again; I'll bite: I think Albert Einstein pretty much nailed the distinction between physical time and the perception of time:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Conclusion: There exists a unique positive real, epsilon, such that if a man sits on a hot stove with (1 + epsilon) pretty girls, time passes at its usual rate.
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This reminds me of a variant of Einstein's explanation of relativity that I heard many years ago: If an old decrepit man sits holding an attractive young woman's hand for ten minutes, to the old man it seems like a minute and to the young woman it seems like an hour. (Sexist, yes, and heterocentric, so adapt it as you will; I'm relaying the version that I heard.) It could be that this version is due to (Isaac) Asimov. Dan, does this ring any bells? Jim On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 4:11 PM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
You're just jealous. Incidentally, are the ladies obliged to sit on the stove too? WFL
On 1/17/14, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
If a man sits with one or more pretty girls, I hope that the time will pass discreetly.
At 09:15 AM 1/17/2014, Dan Asimov wrote:
But Adam, this makes the assumption that time is continuous, not discrete.
--Dan
On 2014-01-17, at 7:32 AM, Adam P. Goucher wrote:
OK, here's this topic again; I'll bite: I think Albert Einstein pretty much nailed the distinction between physical time and the perception of time:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Conclusion: There exists a unique positive real, epsilon, such that if a man sits on a hot stove with (1 + epsilon) pretty girls, time passes at its usual rate.
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These jokes are funny (and cringeworthy) but they do the disservice of making laypeople think that relativity is some sort of rigorous treatment of a psychological phenomenon. I've always been slightly skeptical of the Einstein quote. How well-attested is it? On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 5:06 PM, James Propp <jamespropp@gmail.com> wrote:
This reminds me of a variant of Einstein's explanation of relativity that I heard many years ago: If an old decrepit man sits holding an attractive young woman's hand for ten minutes, to the old man it seems like a minute and to the young woman it seems like an hour. (Sexist, yes, and heterocentric, so adapt it as you will; I'm relaying the version that I heard.)
It could be that this version is due to (Isaac) Asimov. Dan, does this ring any bells?
Jim
On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 4:11 PM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
You're just jealous. Incidentally, are the ladies obliged to sit on the stove too? WFL
On 1/17/14, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
If a man sits with one or more pretty girls, I hope that the time will pass discreetly.
At 09:15 AM 1/17/2014, Dan Asimov wrote:
But Adam, this makes the assumption that time is continuous, not discrete.
--Dan
On 2014-01-17, at 7:32 AM, Adam P. Goucher wrote:
OK, here's this topic again; I'll bite: I think Albert Einstein pretty much nailed the distinction between physical time and the perception of time:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Conclusion: There exists a unique positive real, epsilon, such that if a man sits on a hot stove with (1 + epsilon) pretty girls, time passes at its usual rate.
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
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participants (6)
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Adam P. Goucher -
Allan Wechsler -
Dan Asimov -
Fred Lunnon -
Henry Baker -
James Propp