Theoretical questions

[Kor]

Some random thoughts usually appear in my head every now and then.

Basically, I've been bothered by two questions lately:

1) If Superman circles the earth (let's say, in a minute) against the direction which the earth spins, then once he arrives at the spot he started, would he be at the yesterday of the that he was just a minute ago?
2) In Freaky Friday, basically the mother and daughter switched bodies, but the memories, intelligence, etc. are in the brain, so according to science, the daughter, even at the body of the mother, should still act like the mother, and so is the mother in the daughter's body (only the other way around), right?

[Akonyl]

a) no, that's not how timezones work, or else planes would be able to time travel as well :V
b) Scientifically, yes, it's impossible for people to switch bodies.

[Kor]

b) Scientifically, yes, it's impossible for people to switch bodies.

Well duh, but I love to find flaws in movies 

[Akonyl]

b) Scientifically, yes, it's impossible for people to switch bodies.

Well duh, but I love to find flaws in movies 

same, but there's a difference between actual flaws and saying "that wizard shooting fire is clearly unscientific" imo, unless you want the entire LotR trilogy ruined for you.

[Kor]

b) Scientifically, yes, it's impossible for people to switch bodies.

Well duh, but I love to find flaws in movies 

same, but there's a difference between actual flaws and saying "that wizard shooting fire is clearly unscientific" imo, unless you want the entire LotR trilogy ruined for you.

Joke on you! No wizard was shooting fire in the movies!  (unless you count that deleted Saruman scene....)
Freaky Friday (as far as we know) was set in our reality, so just because there was one fantastic element, doesn't turn it into a fantasy in the level of LotR.

[Akonyl]

Joke on you! No wizard was shooting fire in the movies!  (unless you count that deleted Saruman scene....)
Freaky Friday (as far as we know) was set in our reality, so just because there was one fantastic element, doesn't turn it into a fantasy in the level of LotR.

either way, you're trying to find fault with a movie whose premise depends on science not working. Groundhog Day is the same way (along with many other movies), you could say "if he goes back in time to a point when everything's the same, how does he keep his memories because those are part of his physical body", but that's not a big deal because the idea itself is entirely impossible.

There's a reason suspension of disbelief exists.

[PhoenixTears]

1) If Superman circles the earth (let's say, in a minute) against the direction which the earth spins, then once he arrives at the spot he started, would he be at the yesterday of the that he was just a minute ago?
2) In Freaky Friday, basically the mother and daughter switched bodies, but the memories, intelligence, etc. are in the brain, so according to science, the daughter, even at the body of the mother, should still act like the mother, and so is the mother in the daughter's body (only the other way around), right?

1) Like Ako said, that's not how timezones work. Plus, despite the fact that he has traveled through different timezones (direction doesn't matter), still only a minute has passed from when he left the original timezone to when he gets back into it. So it would only be a minute later. At least, that's the way my brain processed the question. Going "back in time" that way, is only possible if he's landing in a timezone that is behind the original time. So say he left Timezone A at 10:00 AM, and landed in Timezone B a minute later, but Timezone B is an hour behind Timezone A, it would be 9:01 AM when he arrived in Timezone B.

Though, if I've misread the question somehow, feel free to correct me.

2) Thinking about even trying to answer this is making my brain hurt.

[Kor]

I think it was in Seinfeld where something about Superman and the time travel thing was said. Or maybe it was said that if Superman flies around the earth, he can force it to spin against its natural direction and then it basically reverts time (dunno if that as well makes any sense......)

[Akonyl]

I think it was in Seinfeld where something about Superman and the time travel thing was said. Or maybe it was said that if Superman flies around the earth, he can force it to spin against its natural direction and then it basically reverts time (dunno if that as well makes any sense......)

I'm fairly certain that yeah, Superman has reverted time at some point (not exactly when though as I'm not much of a comic guy), probably by spinning earth the opposite direction, but it just didn't have much to do with timezones, and yeah it doesn't make much sense if that's the case either.

[blurfbreg]

2) In Freaky Friday, basically the mother and daughter switched bodies, but the memories, intelligence, etc. are in the brain, so according to science, the daughter, even at the body of the mother, should still act like the mother, and so is the mother in the daughter's body (only the other way around), right?

According to science, it has to be yes. If it's not science, what if the self (soul/ego/etc.) can move around? (Just to make other people's brains hurt more )

[c-square]

2) In Freaky Friday, basically the mother and daughter switched bodies, but the memories, intelligence, etc. are in the brain, so according to science, the daughter, even at the body of the mother, should still act like the mother, and so is the mother in the daughter's body (only the other way around), right?

That depends on if you believe who we are is dictated by the makeup of our brains.

Possibilities:
1) Our memories, intelligence, personality are dictated by the way our brains are wired, which itself is dictated by experiences and genetics.

If this is the case, then it makes no sense to say that the mother and daughter switched bodies.  If the brains stayed with the bodies, then no switch was ever made, so of course the mother would continue being the mother and the daughter would continue being the daughter. 

2) There is something about us that is separate from our brains, something that is not physical

In this case, this metaphysical part of us could be switched with someone else's and we would act differently in the new body, as it is the metaphysical part of us that is controlling the body.  So the mother and daughter would act differently because their 'souls' would be controlling different bodies.

Now, if you believe possibility #1, does that mean that if our brain dies, then we cease to exist?  And if you believe possibility #2, then what is this mysterious metaphysical thing, and where does it exist?  How does it tie on to the brain and experience things and direct things?  And how can we believe in a metaphysical part of us when there is no evidence for it?

Tough but very interesting questions. 

[kyuuketsuki]

I never saw freaky friday, but considering that there was no transference of brain matter... nope... doesn't work. Even IF you believe in souls and the metaphysical transference. Because even if the spirit of the person gets transferred into the body of the other... The personality and everything else of the person is stored in the brain. The spirit is the essence of the person. You would have to forget about brain matter and assume it was possible for the brain matter, which has stored knowledge to be transferred SOLELY BY SPIRIT AND OVERWRITE WHAT IS HARDWIRED IN THE BRAIN. It can't work in either case....

As for the superman thing.... I believe the intent was not for him to reverse the rotation, that was just showing that there was time reversal, not to imply that he was reversing rotation of the planet... If I recall... the idea was that he was moving faster than the speed of light, and according to the theory of relativity, in that instance time travel is possible. OF COURSE it doesn't work as in the superman movie... but hey... it is a movie about an alien who came to earth, who upon feeling the rays of our yellow sun became able to move faster than a speeding bullet, leap buildings in a single bound, be invulnerable, shoot heat from his eyes, have super hearing, have super strength, have x-ray vision (as well as any other vision power that i may be missing) and fly, and uses said abilities to protect the supposed ideals of america... all while the only thing able to hurt him are radioactive rocks from his home world...

Now if you really want to take a movie apart for stretching reality that was supposed to be real... Just take a gander at The Perfect Storm... There is NO WAY IN HELL that a small boat like that, could last more than 5 minutes in a storm of that magnitude, EVER! It is impossible... The 50ft waves would have crushed the boat so quickly it is not even funny. I also took issue on how Hollywood glorified that crew for their incomparable stupidity...