I finished up listening to Hound Of The Baskervilles on CD this morning. Last week, when I started it, I had the abrupt realisation that Dr. House is Sherlock Holmes. Of course, if I'd just watched that week's episode, I'd have had it a day earlier. Ah, well. The best laid epiphanies.

Now I'm onto The Time Machine. I'm only at the very start, and am intrigued by the implication that the time dimension has something like gravity which pulls us in the one direction. Does that hold in actual science? Also, with time being a fourth dimension, kinda like the others, would that imply that you can't hop from one point in time to the others, but have to pass through the time points inbetween you and your destination, just perhaps at a different rate? IIRC, that's how it works in the book, no?

the time dimension has something like gravity which pulls us in the one direction

After the two big physics revolution of the 20th century, Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity, nobody knows yet how to talk about gravity and time together. Not yet, anyway. That's the unified theory that people are searching for quite a few decades now. So I wouldn't use the word "gravity" lightly to describe such a force.

you can't hop from one point in time to the others, but have to pass through the time points inbetween you and your destination, just perhaps at a different rate?

Thanks to the twisting of space (and therefore space-time) in General Relativity (not that i know anything about that, other than pretty much this), it's possible for the space-time to curve in ways that may create a loop, a closed loop. If you go over all the points in that loop, you may end up in the same place, but in a different time. Since it's a loop, you may also do it without this, thanks to the closed curve. That's one of the descriptions that predict that time travel may be possible. All you have to do is find a way to manipulate enough gravity (here's that word again) in order to twist and curve the space-time enough to form such a loop. Nothing says it's impossible.

However, I've never read the book, so I may be talking about things completely different than you are.

Dr. House is Sherlock Holmes

A friend made me watch an episode of "House" a couple of weeks ago (it's on a cables channel that I don't have). I really enjoyed it.

she hid a few pieces from the puzzle I was doing at the time

True evil.

So I wouldn't use the word "gravity" lightly....

Heh.

I'm only at the very start, and am intrigued by the implication that the time dimension has something like gravity which pulls us in the one direction. Does that hold in actual science?

Nope. In fact the laws of physics tend to work the same forward and backward.

So I wouldn't use the word "gravity" lightly to describe such a force.

I just mean something akin to gravity, as we experience it right now. Pulling in one direction, something that must be fought against to go in a different direction.

I know the analogy falls apart, but I'd never stopped to wonder why does time just go forwards, and why so inexorably. Is there a lay-explanation for that?

The realisation that House is Holmesian has freed me from my urge to watch it, actually. I don't feel as encouraged to engage with Holmes, so I can read/watch/listen to those stories more easily than House, who really bothers me.

eta:

In fact the laws of physics tend to work the same forward and backward.

Like gravity?

I know the analogy falls apart, but I'd never stopped to wonder why does time just go forwards, and why so inexorably.

That is still a big question in physics. I just read about this, but I can't remember the particulars of a theory about why time has an arrow.

I just read about this, but I can't remember the particulars of a theory about why time has an arrow.

I think there's entropy involved... somewhere....

Then there's the theory that time is an illusion, as everything in the entire history of the universe has already happened. Fun.

So, Canadians, should be some fun times tonight, huh? God damn, I wish we had the no-con in the US.

Whooo! Most people are predicting some form of minority government, so we could be doing this again next year.

I am home sick today. I didn't think it was possible to sleep as much as I have slept in the last 24 hours.

I think there's entropy involved... somewhere....

Yep, it's in there.

Then there's the theory that time is an illusion, as everything in the entire history of the universe has already happened. Fun.

Certainly the concept of absolute time is an illusion. Since time is a part of the universe you can't really speak of universe having already happened, it just is and we're at a particular coordinate that has a location in both space and time.