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Grimyak t1_jb2evbg wrote

Reply to comment by Anonymous_Otters in Does the age of the universe depends on where you are? by _bidooflr_

I apologize for my poor explanation. I understand that there are regions in our universe where causality cannot apply due to distance and time limitations.

My intention was not to suggest that there is a single shared "now" across the universe. Rather, I meant that the local "now" we experience is the time period where object interactions and state changes occur.

In hindsight, my use of the phrase "unbroken fabric of causality" may have been misleading. What I intended to convey is that within its sphere of influence, causality remains unbroken and could be considered to have one "now" that bends and conforms to the fabric of space/time in that region. However, beyond a certain distance, causality no longer applies, as even light emitted from our location will never reach those areas. In my mind that place would have its own separate discreet "now" to ours.

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criminally_inane t1_jb2sb76 wrote

But then there is a place in between here and there that shares a "now" with both.

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Waste_Bin t1_jb3i7wb wrote

I prefer to think of it as three distinct points with three different horizons dependant on relative position and acceleration.

The "now" in-between the two is an artifact.

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Grimyak t1_jb30k5j wrote

From a technical standpoint, every location has its own distinct area of influence, even if they have points that overlap each other. However, this doesn't contradict my earlier point as far as I can tell.

To illustrate this concept, imagine three circles that overlap in a linear fashion. The outer two circles extend inward, but do not touch. While an outer circle can interact with the portion of the inner circle that it overlaps with, the inner circle cannot transmit this information beyond the point where it is overlapped by the outer circle. Essentially, although each circle has the potential to overlap with another's influence, it is still unable to communicate or affect regions outside of its own radius.

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