Einstein, Beauty and Hot Stove: How do people perceive time?

In this episode, we are going to discuss a well-known but actually very profound topic: why did the holiday pass so quickly?

Ok, let's talk about the story of Einstein and beautiful women doing experiments ~

Regarding people's perception of time, Einstein once said: "Let a man sit with a beautiful woman for an hour, and he will feel as if it is only one minute;" But if you let him sit on the hot stove for a minute, he will feel as if it has been more than an hour. "

Einstein said this sentence in order to make people better understand the theory of relativity.

Later, in order to make people better understand Einstein's words, American popular science writer Steve mirsky wrote an article, which was published in Scientific American in August 2002. Next, let's take a look at the story of this master, beauty and hot stove.

Einstein's metaphor of "beauty and hot stove" has really been tested!

Author//Steve mirsky

Translation/Gan Xi 'an

In order to make it easier for laymen to understand the theory of relativity, Einstein, the most outstanding time expert in history, famously said: "When a man and a beautiful woman sit together for an hour, it seems that it only takes one minute; But if you let him sit on the hot stove for a minute, you will feel that more than an hour has passed. This is the theory of relativity. "

A study unexpectedly found that the metaphor of "beauty and hot stove" is not just a clever random idea. A while ago, I was looking through old books in a nearby library and came across the original style of this metaphor. Surprisingly, this passage about beauty and hot stove is actually a summary of a short experimental report by Einstein. This experimental report was published in the closed journal Thermal Science and Technology (Volume I, No.9, 1938). Obviously, this great theoretical physicist really did experiments (and other parts of the body) before conceiving this simple metaphor. The following is the full text of this experimental report:

[Name] Albert Einstein (Jewish theoretical physicist)

Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, New Jersey, USA

Summary of the experiment: Men and beautiful women sit together 1 hour, and feel that they only need 1 minute, but if they sit on a hot stove 1 minute, they feel that they need 1 hour or more. This is the theory of relativity.

Because the observer's reference coordinate system has a great influence on the observer's perception of the passage of time, the observer's psychological state may also affect the perception. So I started to discuss the passage of time in two completely different psychological States.

Experimental method: I tried to get a stove and a beautiful woman. But unfortunately, I can't get the stove because the lady who helped me cook forbade me to go near the kitchen. However, I secretly obtained a 1924 Manning-Bowman muffin machine. The experiment of this muffin machine should be as effective as a stove, because it can be heated to a very high temperature. Finding beautiful women is a big problem because I live in New Jersey now. I know Chaplin and went to his company to attend the premiere of the new film City Lights 193 1. So I asked him to arrange a meeting with his wife, the movie star paulette? Paulette goddard (see the picture below) has a beautiful face.

Chaplin's third wife, American movie star paulette goddard. Looking at such a beautiful woman, I'm afraid an hour really flies like a minute. ...

Discussion: I went to new york by train and met Miss Goddard at Dahao Bar in Grand Central Station. She's smart and charming. 1 minute later, I looked at my watch and found that it was actually 57 minutes. I rounded it to 1 hour. When I got home, I plugged in the muffin machine and warmed it up. Then, I sat on the muffin machine wearing pants and a long white shirt with the hem not stuck into my pants. I think it seems that 1 hour has passed. I stood up and looked at my watch, and found that it was actually less than 1 second. In order to keep the units in the two narrative situations consistent, I calculate it as 1 minute. Then, I called the doctor.

Conclusion: The observer's psychological state has a great influence on the perception of time.

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Before you laugh and admire Einstein, give Zhong Jun some background information. Steve mirsky is a famous expert on serious jokes. He said that Einstein's document was published in the academic journal Journal of Thermal Science and Technology. The English word is "Journal of Exotic Science and Technology", and the abbreviation is "JEST", which means "joke" when translated. No one has read Einstein's report except mirsky. (However, mirsky deserves to be a serious and funny expert. This experimental report is written! I tried to get a stove and a beautiful woman. . . )

Although Einstein said that this experiment ...

Besides, Lao Ai is a theoretical physicist and won't do experiments on his body.

(Part of this article is excerpted fromNo. 165438, No.9, 2002 10. The part marked with an asterisk has been changed in Gan 'an's translation of Einstein Burning Ass. . )

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