Ep. 6: Is Change An Illusion? (Zeno) - 8-Bit Philosophy

8 BIT PHILOSOPHY

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Is change merely an illusion?

In 5th Century BC,

Greek philosopher Parmenides proposed

that the universe was not made of many things,

but rather is a single indivisible substance:

An eternal now that encompasses all time

and all entities.

And if the universe is one,

then all change is impossible.

For the very idea of change suggests

something transforming from one state

to another.

But according to Parmenides,

all states occur simultaneously--

change is impossible.

After receiving heavy criticism

from his contemporaries, Parmenides' student,

Zeno of Elea, came to his defense

by creating a series of paradoxes that seek

to prove that time and change are,

in fact, utter nonsense.

♪ (Excitebike Theme Song) ♪

Consider a situation in which a motorcyclist

races a man on foot.

Let's assume the man is given

a 50 meter head start.

By the time the motorcyclist reaches

the 50 meter mark, the man will have moved

a small distance forward.

And when the motorcyclist catches up

to the ensuing spot, the man will have moved

farther still.

If there are an infinite number

of measurable distances between

any two points, the man will always be

a minute distance ahead of the biker.

This, then, will go on indefinitely,

and the biker will never catch the man.

But this is absurd!

For our perceptions tell us the motorcyclist

would quickly overtake the man.

Therefore, Zeno's paradox tells us

that our perceptions are flawed

and that a change in distance is preposterous.

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In another of his paradoxes, Zeno talks

of an arrow being shot at a target.

If it takes the arrow one second to travel

60 feet, it would take .5 seconds to travel

half that distance.

A quarter second to travel

half that distance, and so on.

If this process continues, we'll have

eventually reach a unit of time during which

the arrow will occupy a space at complete rest.

Let's call this unit of duration this time

"a moment".

If the arrow's trajectory is the sum

of these stationary moments,

then how will the arrow ever reach its target?

And thus motion is nonsensical.

Zeno's paradoxes have challenged scholars,

philosophers, and mathematicians for over

2,500 years.

If nothing else, they force us

to continuously reconsider our reasoning

about the nature of space and time.