398
DOC.
42 SPECIAL AND GENERAL RELATIVITY
Relativity
and
the Problem
of
Space
159
space, not thought
of
as
bounded,
and
to
assume
that these
two spaces
are
in motion with
respect to
each other.
Before
one
has
become
aware
of this
complication, space
appears as an
unbounded medium
or
container
in
which
ma-
terial
objects
swim around. But
it
must
now
be remembered
* that there
is
an
infinite number of
spaces,
which
are
in motion
with
respect to
each other.
The
concept
of
space as
something
existing objectively
and
independent
of
things belongs to pre-
scientific
thought,
but
not
so
the idea of the existence of
an
infinite number of
spaces
in
motion
relatively to
each other.
This
latter idea
is
indeed
logically
unavoidable,
but
is
far from
having played
a
considerable role
even
in
scientific
thought.
But what about the
psychological origin
of
the
concept
of
time?
This
concept is undoubtedly
associated with the fact of
"calling to
mind,"
as
well
as
with the differentiation between
sense
experiences
and the recollection
of
these.
Of
itself it
is
doubtful whether the differentiation between
sense
experi-
ence
and recollection
(or
simple re-presentation) is something
psychologically directly
given
to
us.
Everyone
has
experienced
that he
has
been
in
doubt whether he
has
actually experi-
enced
something
with
his
senses or
has
simply
dreamt about
it.
Probably
the
ability
to
discriminate between these alterna-
tives
first
comes
about
as
the result of
an
activity
of the mind
creating
order.
An
experience
is
associated with
a
"recollection,"
and
it
is
considered
as
being
"earlier"
in
comparison
with
"present
experiences."
This
is
a
conceptual ordering principle
for
rec-
ollected
experiences,
and the
possibility
of
its
accomplish-
Previous Page Next Page