"If there is sequential and linear physiological time, then there is time. If there is time, then the earth moves, the sun appears to rise and set, and it is not always 5:02 on the 22nd of whenever."
Hmm. In that case at least one Asimov and at least one Clarke story are wrong. However, the two things are not connected (if you allow time speed variation at all), because there is nothing which says that physiological time is fixed to the movement of the sun round the earth. Indeed, it is very obviously not so fixed, things like adrenaline and hibernation can increase and decrease the physiological time, and "time flies when you are having fun" indicates that psychological time is fixed to neither.
The 'stopping' of time resulting in the collapse of all versions of that day throughout history (or worse only certain copies of it collapsing, the ones with people of whom the audience have heard) into a single 'day', is however nonsense. As is the ability of people in that state to integrate the technologies (running a steam train into a pyramid with hi-tech at the same time). But then I treat all of DW as 'fantasy' rather than 'science' so it doesn't really bother me.
The substitution of the robot for the doctor is explained by Paul B. I'd just point out that such a substitution, where the observable events are the same but the actual details are different where they can't be seen, is not at all unknown in 'hard' SF (Colin Kapp's "The Patterns of Chaos" uses it, for instance, in a case where the fact of the explosion at that point in the future was definite but it didn't have to be the spaceship which was at that point). Neither the audience nor the characters seeing the initial version of the event had all of the information (indeed, it's possible that even the author didn't know at that time).
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Hmm. In that case at least one Asimov and at least one Clarke story are wrong. However, the two things are not connected (if you allow time speed variation at all), because there is nothing which says that physiological time is fixed to the movement of the sun round the earth. Indeed, it is very obviously not so fixed, things like adrenaline and hibernation can increase and decrease the physiological time, and "time flies when you are having fun" indicates that psychological time is fixed to neither.
The 'stopping' of time resulting in the collapse of all versions of that day throughout history (or worse only certain copies of it collapsing, the ones with people of whom the audience have heard) into a single 'day', is however nonsense. As is the ability of people in that state to integrate the technologies (running a steam train into a pyramid with hi-tech at the same time). But then I treat all of DW as 'fantasy' rather than 'science' so it doesn't really bother me.
The substitution of the robot for the doctor is explained by Paul B. I'd just point out that such a substitution, where the observable events are the same but the actual details are different where they can't be seen, is not at all unknown in 'hard' SF (Colin Kapp's "The Patterns of Chaos" uses it, for instance, in a case where the fact of the explosion at that point in the future was definite but it didn't have to be the spaceship which was at that point). Neither the audience nor the characters seeing the initial version of the event had all of the information (indeed, it's possible that even the author didn't know at that time).
(Hmm, the final singalong -- Bollywood Who?)