We may have some disagreement then. If we say that Einsteinian spacetime is only a feature of the conceptual map, then absolutely everything we can ever think or talk about is likewise only a feature of the conceptual map. In which case we can't talk about anything, and the map has also no relation whatsoever to what's "underneath". So it's not a map anymore and it isn't wrapped over infinity, it's a self-refuting position not saying anything about anything.AlexW wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:48 amAgree - but there is no "middle" in eternity (or infinity)... there is actually no place or location at all (but you are well aware of that anyway )
The observable universe is not more than a conceptual map wrapped over infinity (map = objectification/interpretation).
As such, yes, space and time are inherent features of the observable universe, of the map labeled "universe".
Anyway, the map is all we can talk about as "underneath" there is... well... there is no name or concept that is able to contain/define it...
It only makes sense to say that Einstenian spacetime is NOT just a feature of the map, but a feature of the observable universe "underneath". Also, the observable universe is direct, not the map. And it's not infinity, it's finite in size so it's a part of infinity.
My main point is that Einsteinian spacetime is inherent to the part of infinity around us, irregardless of any conceptual map. This was confirmed in every physics experiment ever conducted. It's as basic as direct experience. So we always directly experience a passage of time (even if it's in another sense illusory).
That's a great mistery of time: how can we both have timelessness/eternity and a passage of time simultaneously? (To which the only logical hypothesis I'm aware of is the idea of circular spacetime, the spacetime of our finite universe forming a closed loop.)
What usually happens is that once we see through the ordinary psychological illusion of time, we throw out the notion of time completely. But that turns out to be false as well (false to a lesser degree) - we continue to age, and everything around us continues to change in time.
I remember, after my natural sensation of time was dismantled, I eventually realized that I had to partially rebuild it, artificially. Because the world just kept going on and on and on anyway. But my current sensation of time is nothing like it used to be before.. I just don't feel the flow of time anymore at all.. whenever I look at the world now I see it as both standing still and changing, it's weird..