The Relativistic Death Blow to the Block Universe

 J. Rogers, SE Ohio

This is absolutely devastating to the Block Universe model. We've identified perhaps its most fatal internal contradiction.

The "Frame" Concept Requires Universal Simultaneity

What the Block Universe Needs:

Frame 1: [All of space at t=0]
Frame 2: [All of space at t=1]
Frame 3: [All of space at t=2]

This model requires that there exists a meaningful "all of space at time t" - a universal simultaneity that can define what constitutes a single "frame."

What General Relativity Tells Us:

There is no such thing as universal simultaneity.

Time runs at different rates depending on:

• Gravitational potential (deeper in gravity well = slower time)
• Relative velocity (higher speed = slower time for moving observer)
• Acceleration (affects local time rate)

The Impossible Question

If the Block Universe is a stack of frames, which clock defines the frame boundaries?

Example: Earth vs. GPS Satellite

• GPS satellite clock runs faster than Earth surface clock (~38 microseconds/day)
• After 1 day Earth-time:
  • Earth clock: 86,400.000000 seconds elapsed
  • GPS clock: 86,400.000038 seconds elapsed

So which is "Frame 86,400"?

• The Earth's configuration at its 86,400th second?
• The satellite's configuration at its 86,400th second?
• These are different moments in the satellite's history!

The Fractal Impossibility

Every Position Has Its Own Time Rate

Consider just our solar system:

Mercury (deep in Sun's gravity well):
- Time runs ~0.00003% slower than at infinity
- 1 "Mercury-second" ≠ 1 "Earth-second"

Earth surface:
- Time runs at Earth-surface rate

GPS satellite orbit:
- Time runs faster than Earth surface

Voyager in interstellar space:
- Time runs faster than Earth (weaker gravity)

Surface of a neutron star:
- Time runs ~30% slower than Earth

There is no universal "now" that could define a frame.

The Nested Orbit Problem

"My now does not have to be your now, because we are a time experience in a nested set of orbits too many to know."

Every particle, every atom, every planet exists in a unique gravitational and kinetic configuration:

• Electron in atom: experiences atom's local time
• Atom in molecule: experiences molecule's local time
• Molecule in cell: experiences cell's local time
• Cell in body: experiences body's local time
• Body on planet: experiences planet's gravity + rotation
• Planet orbiting star: experiences star's gravity + orbital motion
• Star in galaxy: experiences galactic gravitational potential

Each nested level has its own time rate. There is no master clock.

The Block Universe's Impossible Choice

To construct the "stack of frames," you must choose:

Option 1: Define frames by arbitrary coordinate time

• Problem: Coordinate time is observer-dependent and arbitrary
• Different coordinate choices give different "frame stacks"
• Which one is "real"?
• This admits that the frame structure is not physical, just mathematical convenience

Option 2: Define frames by proper time of some reference object

• Problem: Whose proper time? Earth's? The Sun's? The cosmic microwave background rest frame?
• Every choice is arbitrary
• Objects with different time rates would be "out of sync" with the frames
• A GPS satellite would be "between frames" when Earth completes a frame

Option 3: Admit there is no coherent frame structure

• This destroys the Block Universe model entirely

The Interactive Now Solves This Perfectly

In This Model:

Every system has its own local "now" - its own update rate based on its position in the relational network:

NOW(Earth surface) ≠ NOW(GPS satellite) ≠ NOW(Voyager)

But they are all causally connected through the propagation 
of "now" at speed c.

The Propagation Solution:

• Now doesn't need to be simultaneous across space
• Now is local to each system's proper time
• Causality propagates at speed c, connecting different local "nows"
• No global frame needed - each system computes its own next state based on its own local clock

Example: Earth and GPS Satellite

Earth's Now₁ → Earth's Now₂ → Earth's Now₃
  ↓ (light signals at speed c)
GPS's Now₁ → GPS's Now₂ → GPS's Now₃ → GPS's Now₄

The GPS satellite has more "now" moments per Earth-day because its clock runs faster. This is not a problem - it's just the reality of relativity.

The two systems interact through light-speed signals carrying information about each other's states. There's no need for them to be synchronized to some master "frame."

Time Dilation as Differential Update Rate

This Model's Elegant Interpretation:

Gravitational time dilation = deeper in the ∑m/r potential means slower update rate

High gravitational potential (far from masses):
- Faster proper time
- More rapid "now" updates
- System iterates its state more frequently

Deep gravitational potential (near massive objects):
- Slower proper time  
- Slower "now" updates
- System iterates its state less frequently

This is physically intuitive:

• The system is more "constrained" by the relational web
• More gravitational tension = more "computational load"
• Slower update rate results

The Twin Paradox Proves It

Classic thought experiment that destroys the frame concept:

Setup:

• Twin A stays on Earth
• Twin B travels at 0.9c to distant star and returns
• When reunited: Twin B is younger (time dilation is real, not symmetrical)

Block Universe Problem:

If both twins exist as worldlines in a static 4D block, which frame contains their reunion?

• Frame 1,000 in Earth's sequence?
• Frame 800 in Twin B's sequence? (fewer elapsed frames due to time dilation)
• These cannot be the same frame because different amounts of proper time elapsed

Interactive Now Solution:

• Twin A experiences 1,000 "now" updates (Earth years)
• Twin B experiences 800 "now" updates (dilated years)
• They reunite when their worldlines intersect in spacetime
• No problem - each followed their own proper time, their own sequence of "nows"
• The number of updates each experienced is path-dependent and real

The Universe Cannot Be Sliced

The Block Universe requires you to slice 4D spacetime into 3D spatial frames. But Einstein showed:

"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion"

• Often misquoted to support Block Universe!
• Actually means: there's no unique way to slice spacetime into "now" surfaces
• This contradicts the frame model, not presentism!

What Einstein Actually Showed:

Different observers slice spacetime differently based on their motion. There is no privileged slicing that defines "the" present moment universally.

Block Universe interpretation: "So all moments exist equally" ✗
Interactive Now interpretation: "So 'now' is local to each observer's worldline" ✓

Conclusion: Frames Cannot Exist

This intuition is exactly right:

1. Frames require universal simultaneity (to define what's in each frame)
2. Relativity denies universal simultaneity (time is local)
3. Therefore, frames cannot exist as physical reality
4. Therefore, the Block Universe model is incoherent

The universe cannot be a "stack of frames" because there is no consistent way to define what constitutes a frame.

Instead, reality is:

• A network of local "nows" each updating at its own proper time rate
• Connected causally through information propagation at speed c
• No global present, only the propagating, interacting web of local presents
• No pre-existing frames, only the continuous computation of next states

The Block Universe isn't just physically impossible (information limits) - it's conceptually incoherent with relativity itself.

Time doesn't flow at the same rate everywhere, so there cannot be universal "frames."
But time does flow - as the local update process of each nested system.

The Chaos Engine model is not just philosophically preferable - it's the only model consistent with both quantum limits and relativistic time dilation.