Course Dates:
Thursday October 4
Thursday October 11
Thursday October 18
Thursday October 25
Thursday November 1
Thursdays November 8
FRIDAY November 16

Certifiably smart people have said that “time” is a basic feature of reality, but others, equally certifiable, have argued that it is derivative, or merely something we project to make sense of reality, or a complete illusion. We will discuss the views from philosophy, physics, and science fiction. We will compare Newton’s time to Einstein’s, but if you never met an equation that you liked, fear not. Our approach will be diagrams, not equations. Some questions: If it is true that x will happen, does that imply no one could stop x (fatalism)? Does the past exist? The future? How long is the present? Would an omniscient God see a “moving now?” Could there be two “nows,” moving along the time line? In different directions? Is Groundhog Day possible? A second dimension of time? What gives time its direction? Could there be time without change? Does science fiction time travel require a “super time” or diverging universes? Does the shooting-your-grandfather paradox preclude backwards time travel – or only show that time travelers will never have happened to shoot their grandfathers? Some of the concepts will be abstract and mind-bending, but no special background in math, physics or philosophy will be needed.

Readings and films available online. Representative musings:
http://lawrencecrocker.blogspot.com/2014/06/groundhog-day-movie-as-metaphysics.html (1st two sections)