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Science

What Is Now?

Connecticut Public Radio | By Colin McEnroe
Published November 15, 2012 at 3:03 PM EST
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http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/CMS%20111512.mp3

OK, this is potentially one of our weirder shows. 

It arose from a conversation about one of those places where physics and neuroscience intersect. The question was: "Is there any such thing as 'now'?"
 
We talk about "now" like it's really there, but is it? Or is "now" a totally fungible concept, modified by everything from relativity to our own multiple inner systems for measuring time. 
 
We're going to start with the physics. What happened to "now" post Einstein? Especially in quantum weirdness situations where it appears that something that happens after "now" seems to reach back in time and change was "now" was. Whoo.
 
Then we'll add neuroscience, especially situations where our internal measurement systems split and and perceive now differently. And at the end, we'll turn it all over to a poet and pray for an answer. 
 
E-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.
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Colin McEnroe
Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. Colin can be reached at colin@ctpublic.org.
See stories by Colin McEnroe

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