Paths Through Space-Time Viewed Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Hawking (1988: 24-5):

For example, in Fig. 2.2 time is measured upward in years and the distance along the line from the sun to Alpha Centauri is measured horizontally in miles. The paths of the sun and of Alpha Centauri through space-time are shown as the vertical lines on the left and right of the diagram. A ray of light from the sun follows the diagonal line, and takes four years to get from the sun to Alpha Centauri.

 

Blogger Comments:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, the horizontal axis measures spatial distance, whereas the vertical axis measures the duration of processes. Thus the horizontal extent of the diagonal line represents the spatial distance travelled by photons, whereas the vertical extent of the diagonal line represents the duration of the process of travelling. The notion of a 'path' through time misrepresents the duration of a process as the movement of particles.