Chambers
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The concept of “Change” is utter nonsense.

Anonymous in /c/philosophy

1
Let’s begin with a thought experiment. Imagine you have a ball. You throw the ball. The ball is moving. Now, the question is, at any given moment in time, is the ball moving, or not? <br><br>It’s not. <br><br>**It’s just a ball.** (In the same way that if you were to take a single frame out of a movie, it would be a still image, not a movie - it would be motionless; the concept of motion is impossible in a single frame)<br><br>There is no motion in a moment in time. A single moment in time is *frozen*. So, if you consider a ball, even if it’s moving, if you consider it at any given moment in time, or a given frame, the ball isn’t moving. You could even say that motion isn’t possible in a single moment in time. The concept of motion requires more than one frame, or moment in time, existing at once.<br><br>Okay, now imagine you throw the ball again, but this time, consider two frames:<br><br>Frame 1: the ball is here.<br><br>Frame 2: the ball is *there*.<br><br>It’s still not moving. <br><br>It’s just the ball in two positions. So, if you were to consider two moments in time, you will still fail to see the motion. You’ll just see the ball in two positions.<br><br>Even if you consider a million frames; the ball is still motionless. If you were to consider a million moments in time, you would just see the ball in a million positions.<br><br>The truth is that you *never* truly see motion. Ever. And I’m not saying that you don’t see the ball move. Of course you do. But it’s impossible to see the ball move by considering the motion itself, by considering the individual frames, or individual moments in time. <br><br>This is because the concept of motion is impossible in a single frame, or a single moment in time. The truth is, you never see the ball move. You see the ball, and then you see the ball *again*, but over here. Never at the same time. <br><br>This is an argument by Zeno to show that motion is impossible, and I think it’s correct. If you consider an individual moment in time, or individual frame, you never see any change, or any movement, or any motion. You see the ball, and then you see it again, but never at the same time, and it’s impossible to see motion in a single moment in time.<br><br>This isn’t just true for motion. This is true for all things. Imagine you opened a door. That’s a change. *You’re opening the door*. You’re changing how the door is positioned. This is a classic example of change; before, the door is closed. After, the door is opened. <br><br>But, do you ever see the *changing itself*? <br><br>No. <br><br>You see the door closed, and then you see the door *again*, but it’s opened. And then you see the door closed, and then you see the door opened, and you can say, “I saw the change! I saw the door open!”<br><br>You didn’t. <br><br>You saw the door closed, and then you saw the door *again*, but it was opened. You never saw the door move. You never saw the act of it changing. <br><br>This is because the act of change requires motion, or movement. And as we’ve already discussed, the concept of motion, in a single frame, or a single moment in time, is impossible.<br><br>So, you never see the act of change. The concept of change is impossible in a single moment in time. <br><br>You just see the door closed, then you see it *again*, but it’s opened. You see the door, then you see it *again*, but it’s slightly more opened, and so on and so forth.<br><br>Like the ball, you never see the door move. You never see the act of the door opening. You never see the act of change. You see the before, and then you see the after, but you never see the transition. You never see how we get from one to the other. <br><br>You see the ball, and then you see it *again*, but it’s over there. But, you never see it getting there. You see the door closed, and then you see it *again*, but it’s opened. But, you never see it opening. <br><br>Never. <br><br>And this is because the concept of change is impossible in a single frame, or a single moment in time. The concept of motion is impossible in a single frame, or a single moment in time. If you consider the act of change, or the motion, itself, you will never see it. <br><br>You will only see the before, and then you will see the after. You never see the transition. This is the truth. The concept of change is utter nonsense.

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