Is absolute stillness possible?

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   kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

   People often talk about if it is possible to build a machine that would make it possible to travel at or above the speed of light. The reason coming down to the idea that our movement through space effects our movement through time and that by speeding up in space you slow down in time. Well what if you could build a machine that could sit perfectly still. No movement what so ever. In theory the planet and solar system and everything else would appear to speed up and move off on a path you could actually see and plot out and such. The thing is, not only does our planet move, and solar system, and our galaxy and everything else, our cells move as well, everything is in motion to some degree. Would it actually be possible to cease all motion and achieve complete stillness?

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      Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      No

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      Druid Dudeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You should stay away from those hallucinogens.

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      kessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Stillness signifies unity, rest,satisfaction, completion perfection.
      
      Activity signifies expectation, incompletion, imperfection.
      
      So activity leads to rest....and it is because of rest there is activity.
      
      Yes indeed absolute stillness is possible, but the question is how would one recognise it.
      
      It cannot be by the eyes nor the ears for each requires movement in or for discerment...
      
      So indeed rest is only possible by the knowing of the satisfied mind.

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   knolyourselfposted 13 years ago

   No, but why do you ask?

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      kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I find theoretical sciences more interesting then arguing over what colour socks God wears or if there were unicorns in the garden of eden or whatever
      
      I thought others might get equally bored with arguing over things that really just don't matter, its all a waste of time so why not waste it on theoretical stuff that might go the way of God, un-provable?

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   knolyourselfposted 13 years ago

   "things that really just don't matter,"
   Yes, what matters and what does not. Sort of determines one's whole existence, wouldn't you think? You are here because maybe this matters. So then how do you determine what matters?

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   TLMinutposted 13 years ago

   That sounds like a very interesting proposition. Wouldn't it have to be totally frozen solid like beyond suspended animation? Well, if 'animation' was 'suspended' that WOULD be totally motionless, wouldn't it?

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      Druid Dudeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If animation is suspended, it is no longer animated.

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   logic,commonsenseposted 13 years ago

   atoms are constantly in motion, therefore everything else is in motion to some degree.

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   wildernessposted 13 years ago

   Yes, of course, at least on a macro scale.  However, motion is a relative measurement; motion only occurs when considered relative to something else. 
   
   Two objects may be relatively still to each other while both are traveling at enormous speed from the viewpoint of a third object, which in turn may be motionless or moving according to a fourth viewer.
   
   There is no such thing as absolute stillness as there is no absolute viewpoint.  If that makes any sense; I've not phrased it very well.

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   Rochelle Frankposted 13 years ago

   When I first read the title, I thought it said "Is absolute silliness possible".  At first I thought "yes", but then I reconsidered. It may be impossible (though that is also an absolute) to get the mind around the concept of absolute, because there's nothing on at least one side of it except nothingness, which is also an absolute. At this point my brain hurts and I need to eat a brownie.

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      wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      And do your brownies have that "special" ingredient?  That might help a lot when considering the unconsiderable...

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         kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I expect those brownies to be shared!
         
         We could have a right good chat about the nature of everything and the inter-connectedness of all matter using multiverse theory and the existence of black matter
         
         Much more fun to argue about something everyone agrees is not provable and is not of the sort of importance that it would effect how you live and thus being wrong or being disagreed with is not a personal attack on ones judgments. Now my head hurts, where's that brownie!!!

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         Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Just chocolate. Isn't that special enough?

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            Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            For some people Rochelle, it is actually. And, for some others, possibly not.

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            wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Certainly not.  Any brownie worth it's chocolate must also contain walnuts, or failing all else, pecans.
            
            If you are going to share as Kirstenblog suggests they must have nuts.

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               Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Well-- I never make brownies, myself, as they are very rich and full of stuff i shouldn't eat a lot of. I bought a bucket of mini brownies from the supermarket bakery because we were going to a big potluck dinner(about 200 people) and I was pressed for time. There were a few left over.. mmm.

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   paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

   I hypothesize that there is one point in the universe that is perfectly still. And we will never find it.

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      Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      We may find it when we die. The perfect stillness could be what some people call God. "Be still and know..."

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      wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You may be right, at that.  I understand that space itself is expanding in all directions, like a balloon blowing up, but the single mathematical point where the big bang originated may have never moved at all.
      
      Of course, it might be a bit difficult to find, as you say.

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