Time
“I never
think of the future – it comes soon enough”.
Albert
Einstein
What
is time? Philosophers have debated this and many other questions like it for
centuries, with no definitive answers to speak of. Was there time before the
Big Bang? Does time exist when nothing is changing? Is the future infinite?
It is
certainly fair to suggest that the concept of time begins within the confines
of personal human consciousness. The way that people interpret time is neither
universal nor cast in stone, but rather the interplay between various factors
including culture and religion.
Referring to the ever-so-resourceful information
of Wikipedia, time is the
indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently
irreversible succession from the past, through the present, to the future.
Many
things in nature occur in recurring cycles. Days, tides, seasons, and years are
all cyclic in nature. They happen over and over again. Perhaps because we are
surrounded by such patterns, most forms of life have come to adapt to and react
in cyclic ways. Molting, hibernation and mating, for example, follow
distinctive patterns that repeat in the natural world year after year. It
stands to reason, then, that man's habitat and lifestyle would be affected by
such naturally occurring cyclic patterns too. Beyond that, it is possible to
conceive of the idea that there are circular rhythms happening around us right
now that are simply too grandiose to measure or even comprehend in one’s
lifetime: re-creations of the entire universe, the persistence of earthquakes,
continental shift, and even life and death itself.
The
concept of time as a circle is an ancient one that has been incorporated into
the mythology and religion of numerous cultures, from the Mayans and Aztecs to
Hindus and Christians. Though different in description, each believes in some
form of continuous time, either through life after death or rebirth. Others
view the endless circle of time from the perspective of the universe as a
whole.
Looking
from a psychological perspective: as time goes by, more stuff happens and we
acquire more memories. The idea that the amount of memories we have increases
as we head toward the future can be equated to the concept of ever increasing
entropy; the cup cannot be put back together – we cannot undo what has been
done in our lifetime. The fact that the future is anticipated causes us to
continually live our lives while moving linearly forward.
“Of
these three divisions of time [past, present, and future], then how can two,
the past and the future, be, when the past no longer is and the future is not
yet? As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become
the past, it would not be time but eternity. If, therefore, the present time is
time only by reason of the fact that it moves on to become the past, how can we
say that even the present is, when the reason why it is that it is not to be?
In other words, we cannot rightly say that time is, except by reason of its
impending state of not being.” – St. Augustine; The Confessions, Book XI
The
word ‘now’ is often used to denote the present. It also implies that whatever
is being referred to in the “now” can be seen or experienced by the person
doing the referring. Since the word ‘now’ is such a commonly accepted word, why
is it that when you look below the surface, there is still so much controversy
and misunderstanding surrounding the word?
It
is often argued that the present does not even exist, because by the time an
instant is experienced or thought about, it is already over. Therefore, everything
is either past or future. This is the question of the “now.” According to this
theory, whenever things are changing, the present becomes the past as soon as
it has happened, and whatever is happening at the present moment is the only
“now” that exists; everything that has already happened is no longer real. And
if the past is the keeper of change, and the past is no longer real, then
nothing is changing. If nothing is changing, then time is not passing and so it
no longer exists.
Other
arguments advocate that the present is the only thing that exists. This is the “presentist”
standpoint, that the past cannot be real, because having already happened it is
no longer accessible and therefore no longer a part of reality. The future, as
well, is not real, for if it were real it would be unchangeable, but in reality
no one knows what the future is going to bring.
Stcherbatsky,
a scholar of Buddhist philosophy, explains that according to their presentist
ideas, "Everything past is unreal, everything future is unreal, everything
imagined, absent, or mental is unreal. Ultimately real is only the present
moment of physical efficiency.”
Aristotle's
keen interest in the relationship between motion and time certify him as being
a fair representative of ancient viewpoints on time. He realized that the
motion of two objects could be compared by comparing the amount of time that
elapsed while the objects were moving.
He
developed theories addressing the world and its constant state of flux and
supported his theories using physics and its relationship to time. Though he
theorized about change before he theorized about time, that did not mean that
he found time to be dependent on change. Quite to the contrary, he did not see
change as possible without time.
Many
philosophers have offered unique insights into the nature of time. Some
theorize that we do not really exist. Others hypothesize that we have existed
forever and always will. As with any subject matter, some theories have more
support than others, and all of them have been modified and extended over the
years. Our incessant and often fascinating attempts to study and address the
issue of time is an indication of its importance to the world today and to
future generations. Without time, there would be no seasons, no years, no hope
of change, and perhaps, no existence at all.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRwZ55zjzxc&t=617s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TiQidGPHA4
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
This is a very interesting subject. I myself am curious to what time really is. I think your post does a great job at giving examples of different theories and theorists. Also you give a wide array of theories which makes for an interesting read. However, I am interested to see what your own theory of time is. Maybe in your next post briefly note your own theory. Personally I think time is a product of culture as you mentioned in the beginning of your post. We take after what we are used to because we were born into it. However, I have no clue or theory to suggest how the first person introduced the concept of time. That is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteAugustine also said that he knew perfectly well what time was, until someone asked him to explain it. I think most of us can relate to that. Time's the stream I go afishin' in, said Thoreau. But what does that mean?
ReplyDeleteBest thing I've read on the subject lately is James Gleick's "Time Travel: A History." The good news is, we CAN travel through time via literature and the imagination. Bad news (but probably good, in fact): we can't really live in any other time than that to which we were born. Wendell Berry said the best we can do for the future is to give all to the present. Makes a lot of sense, and suggests another defintion: time is our opportunity to create a legacy.
I heard an interesting quote for time the other day. Here in the western hemisphere we need never worry if tomorrow will ever come because it is already tomorrow in Australia. That is an interesting concept of time purely based on the different time scales of the world. It is completely inaclaplacable though time simply moves on the same for all of us until it eventually ends for all of us or does. Assuming that time ends when mean that there is nothing after our naturally conceived time?
ReplyDelete