SIMULTANEITY: the relativist view
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3054 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
F. HEYLIGHEN writes: “In relativity theory, we have the principle of relativity together with the principle of invariant speed limit c for causal propagation, which entail the impossibility to distinguish simultaneous from nonsimultaneous events that are spatially separated” (1990a, p.441).
This is the case, for instance, of somebody observing the sky at night. The simultaneous character of the observed celestial show is a perceptive artefact.
HEYLIGHEN views this principle as an example expressing “the impossibility to establish a certain classical distinction in an absolute way” (Ibid).
R. FISCHER states, in a different sense: “… the covariance between the ”external motions“ of substance ”out there“, and ”internal motions“ (the subject's systemic rate of change as a reflection of his/her arousal) that results in invariant features of the transform (interface or reality) is a principle of neurobiological relativity” (1991, p.99).