Fig. 1 Position and location (static) versus motion (dynamic) |
Position is conceptually the ‘volume’ of space 'occupied' by an object. Location is the set of distances that separate one object from one or more others. Location is conceptually a photograph (i.e., static) Motion consists of two or more locations of one object. Motion is conceptually a movie (i.e., dynamic). From an observer’s perspective, motion requires memory of the object’s previous location. However, an object moves by definition irrespective of observers: if it occupies two or more locations. The difference between motion and time is that time absolutely requires an observer. By definition, motion was ongoing in the Universe before we came aboard. Objects were successively shifting from one location to another for an eternity. Time is a notion that arose the day animals developed memory. Time is a concept invented and understood by those animals that can discern between before and after. A tree may mark the years it lived with rings, but it does not possess the ability known as memory that a lion or a dolphin has. |
If you wanna watch 'em dance, Newt, you're gonna have to put a nickel in the peep-scope. |
Position is not the same as location |
Adapted for the Internet from: Why God Doesn't Exist |