If time is the 4th dimension, I can think of 2 ways to describe the flow of time. Either matter is moving forwards along the t axis, or space is. In the former, each particle has its own time and "exists" only once, while in the latter, everything Big Bang to Heat Death already exists, and space is just going through it, like frames in a movie. Are any of the 2 correct? Do we even know? And, if neither are, how does it actually work?
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Usual convention in relativity is that body moves in a space-time, so that it's coordinates in Minkowski spacetime coordinate system would be defined as : $$ s^2 = \left(ict\right)^2 + r^2 $$ Here's an example of space-time diagram of two photons, A and B, originating at the same event, and a slower-than-light-speed object, C :
Also check "a light cone" in special and general relativity.
Agnius Vasiliauskas
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It seems like you are asking about eternalism vs. presentism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternalism_(philosophy_of_time)
Having GR seems ruling out presentism
nwolijin
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