lunatechian (lunatech-ian)

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a thought experiment with time

Here is a thought experiment that I was trying out today.

Question

Assume that we are in a society where there is no concept of time. You have to meet a friend. How do you two sync up so that you can meet each other. Remember that you do not have a concept of time, hence you cannot tell him 'meet me below the fourth coconut tree at 3 PM today'.

Answer (one of the many)

One answer that I think might be feasible is that you tell your friend that you will let off a firecracker (or some signaling device) when you leave your home and you will let off a firecracker after every 500 meters.

Applications of this problem

How do ants sync up between themselves ? i.e. how do they decide 'this is the time the house owner makes tea and spills some milk on the counter'

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Comments

    • Posted bySwaroop
    • on
    Ants go out to forage food when they r extremely hungry, they eat together and mostly are of same sizes (unlike humans who r slim/flat/), so they r likely to get hungry at the same time :-)
    Reply
  2. @Swaroop - I gave a bad problem :-)
    Reply

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