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I understand how time (space/time) is perceived according to the theories of relativity, but I still don’t understand:

Did the Big Bang occur 13.8 billion years ago or is it occurring relative to us 13.8 billion years ago?

Is the day I was born occurring x years ago relative to me or did it occur x years ago?

Is the day I die occurring x years from now, or will it occur only in x years from now?

When using the word relative in my examples, I am not necessarily meaning it in the sense of special relativity.

Qmechanic
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EMN
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  • you should post this in Language stack exchange, it is a semantics question, not a physics one –  Jan 01 '21 at 02:31
  • @Wolphram Jonny In some ways I am asking if the universe itself is passing through time, or whether time is relative also for the entire universe ? – EMN Jan 01 '21 at 02:39
  • I was kidding it is not for language, but it is philosophical. Physics just maps inputs to outputs, it does not tell you what is it out there. What tells you what is out there are interpretations of a theory, of which there are many to chose, according to the taste of the believer. –  Jan 01 '21 at 02:53
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    What is time, does it flow, and if so what defines its direction? – mmesser314 Jan 01 '21 at 03:06
  • @Wolphram jonny, I get what you say. I tried leaving out all the entangled philosophy that comes along with how my question relates to our own perception of time, but if physics can’t provide an answer for my question I do apologise in a advance – EMN Jan 01 '21 at 03:09
  • @ mmesser314 your link is exactly what i was looking for. It seems that the question is better asked as whether the universe’s time flows or not. – EMN Jan 01 '21 at 03:21
  • I was going to say that it's still happening right now because things are still moving due to it, but I see now that that's not really an answer to the question you were asking. But just on a side note, time doesn't really flow, things move through time. Some might disagree but ultimately no one really knows and it's somewhat up in the air as to whether we ever CAN. – Ron Kyle Jan 01 '21 at 03:37
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    Does this answer your question? What is time, does it flow, and if so what defines its direction? – PM 2Ring Jan 01 '21 at 05:44
  • @PM 2Ring It seems like there is no answer, but it’s definitely the answer to my question. – EMN Jan 01 '21 at 07:07
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    It's one of those tricky questions that straddles both physics & philosophy. Fortunately, we can do physics without knowing what time really is. ;) But take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternalism_(philosophy_of_time) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growing_block_universe & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietdijk%E2%80%93Putnam_argument – PM 2Ring Jan 01 '21 at 09:24

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