Where does this come from?? Have you come across it before?

Question

What use is time? What use is scale ? (as in measurement)
When neither exists outside of man!

Answer 1

It is precisely because we have those concepts that they are useful.

I use the word 'precisely' deliberately, because our 'scales', among which are the ones we use to measure time, allow us the tremendous advantage of precision.

In fact, it can be argued that applied math, useful math, is mainly about precision.

Precise measurement allows efficiency and thus minimizes waste and maximizes 'profit' - not merely commercial profit but all sorts of profit (all else being equal, it is always better to get the most you can out of each unit of expenditure).

Thousands of years ago, humans had to follow the migrating herds of animals around and use very risky and imprecise methods and tools to hunt them for food and clothing. Now, thanks largely to advances in precise measurement, we can fly to the animals from the other side of the planet, change clothes into a nicely fitting 'safari suit', motor comfortably out to the herds, hunt an animal for whatever reason (probably not food), shoot one very efficiently and safely with our very precise telescopically sighted weapon, motor back to our hotel in time for a precisely prepared meal (during which we can, if we are so inclined, indulge the luxury of discussing the ethics of hunting and killing wild animals these days), and be back home in time to watch our favorite tv series about the decline of the other species on this planet - the ones that don't have our very useful concepts of measurement, precision and efficiency.

Of course, not everything is rosy with this picture. That's why I included the phrase 'all else being equal' two paragraphs ago. All else is rarely if ever equal.

So the questions you cite have this definite answer.

Answer 2

Sounds lke a question that has been asked by many for a very long time. How does man know what exists to other animals? Whales and dolphins are said to be more intelligent than most people. We use tools to keep track of measurements of time and distances and lengths possibly because our minds are not advanced enough to not need those tools. And yet long ago even man used the stars for navigation.The swallows return to Capistrano (without GPS). The Emperor penguins of Antarctica find thier way back to the nesting grounds, and back to the ocean again. In some ways the tools that have seemingly made our lives easier have actually taken away some of our best instinctual abilities and have made our lives more complicated.

Answer 3

Man has created them because we're controling creatures by nature, self-interested and dominating. Not surprisingly, the most accurate early records of time were used for spiritual reasons. Man had already created Gods so they could reason as to why things happened at all. So time was studied to know when to plant, harvest, worship and therefore gain more control over their existance.
Scale made life again more predictable. Go back to medieval European cathedrals where you can still see rods used for measurement and engravings for the standard size of bread. Increased trade made uniform measurements more desireable.
Man has become even more obsessed with this standardization with the precision of computers. We have mastered scale to a microscopic extent.
Oddly enough, despite all our efforts, we cannot synchronize time perfectly; we still need daylight savings and leap years. Nor can we get much past an atomic level - although they're working diligently for that one. Nor can we yet control weather at whim, but man have we been trying. Arguments about the greenhouse effect, dams, etc, are quite common on this topic.
All of this for me comes down to our need for control and reason in our lives. Quite obviously there is no real answer to this. I'll be interested to read the other responces.

Answer 4

Okej, time may or may not exist,it is hard to judge for or against it. But as for scale, it exists outside humans. e.g.if u feel hot and cold,you can differentiate. Another,if someone tall or small. U can still judge the difference (in scale). This is the concept of index. Index is a capapcity humans have to differentiate between different categories/concepts etc.
Now but still, you may say all this exists in our head. Oh well,then imagine there are no humans,does everything stop to exist? That is solipsistic view. And there is plenty of evidence against it. (Google that if you are interested).
And what humans are good are reletive scales (coming back to your question). There is no tall,if there is no small. Nothing is hot, if there is nothing colder compared to it.

Answer 5

yes time scale etc it all exists and was created by man, if you could talk any animal language and could ask that animal what time is it? there is no response as it is not aware of 24hrs etc.

same as scale, that too means nothing to any other creature but man.

shows we think what ever that is? in black and white even the way I am communicating with you here, this text means nothing to any creature on earth only man.

so outside of that creature it's all irrelevant to all other creatures.

Answer 6

These things are all man- made concepts. Its a tool to control man. That's right these things do not exist outside of man, but somebody thinks that they are important.

Answer 7

Maybe so, but as we are all (wo)men, then it's irrelevant.

Answer 8

Relativity: not everything is relative.