Universal Wormhole Observers and Clarified PresentismPart 2 of the Semiclassical Cosmological Argument in Sum

In my previous post, I described my universal wormhole observers. Here, I describe how the observers support clarified presentism.

First, I define presentism. Presentism means that only the present exists while the past and future do not exist.

Second, clarified presentism in my 2021 article means phenomena exist only in the present and do not exist in the past or future.

Third, all universal wormhole observers, regardless of their location, detect the preferred universal chronology. Therefore, all of them also detect the associated preferred foliation of spacetime.

(Spacetime refers to the four-dimensional geometry that unifies the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time. And an event is a point in spacetime with three spatial coordinates and one time coordinate.)

The Preferred Universal Chronology
Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity in 1905 proved the impossibility of classical absolute space and time. For example, special relativity logically implies the relativity of simultaneity, which means that no two events that are distant from each other have the same chronology from every possible reference frame.

For instance, the relativity of simultaneity implies the following scenario:

—Event A and Event B are distant from each other.
—Some distant observers detect that Event A and Event B occur at the same time.
—Other distant observers detect that Event A occurs before Event B.
—Still, other distant observers detect that Event A occurs after Event B.

And the implications of special relativity quickly led to disbelief in the possibility of a preferred reference frame for a universal chronology.

However, universal wormhole observers bridge through all of the distance in the universe. And all universal wormhole observers, regardless of their reference frame, detect the same universal chronology.

Clarified Presentism versus Eternalism
I earlier defined that clarified presentism means that phenomena exist only in the present and do not exist in the past or future. However, most living philosophers of time hold to eternalism. That is, eternalism means that all phenomena from what we consider the past, present, or future have always existed and will always exist.

(Presentism is a type of A-theory of time while eternalism is related to the B-theory of time.)

Contemporary models of eternalism typically incorporate modern physics while focusing on the relativity of simultaneity. For example, C. Wim Rietdijk in 1966 proposed eternalism based on special relativity and said, "A proof is given that there does not exist an event, that is not already in the past for some possible distant observer at the (our) moment that the latter is 'now' for us."

Rietdijk noted that special relativity implies that all events that are present to humans on Earth are already in the past for some distant observer. And from this, he argues that everything considered in the past, present, or future has always existed and will always exist.

And the argument for eternalism based on special relativity is called the Rietdijk-Putnam argument. (Putnam in 1967 proposed a similar argument.)

However, universal wormhole observers bridge through the relativity of simultaneity and permit a preferred universal chronology, which supports clarified presentism.

In the next post, I will use the points from parts 1 and 2 to set the stage for my semiclassical cosmological argument.

Sources
—Albert Einstein, "Relativity: The Special and the General Theory," translated by Robert W. Lawson, 1920
—C. Wim Rietdijk, "A Rigorous Proof of Determinism Derived from the Special Theory of Relativity," Philosophy of Science, 1966, volume 33, issue 4, pages 341–344, https://doi.org/10.1086/288106 or https://www.jstor.org/stable/186637
—Hilary Putnam, "Time and Physical Geometry," The Journal of Philosophy, 1967, volume 64, issue 8, 240-247, https://doi.org/10.2307/2024493 or https://www.jstor.org/stable/2024493
—James Goetz, "Theodicy, Supreme Providence, and Semiclassical Theism," Theology and Science, 2021, volume 19, issue 1, pages 42-64, https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2020.1825195 or the free preprint at https://philpapers.org/rec/GOETSP-4

The Three-Part Series
1) Quantum Entanglement, ER=EPR, and Observers: Part 1 of the Semiclassical Cosmological Argument in Sum
2) Universal Wormhole Observers and Clarified Presentism: Part 2 of the Semiclassical Cosmological Argument in Sum
3) The Argument: Part 3 of the Semiclassical Cosmological Argument in Sum

Copyright © 2022 James Edward Goetz