As humans, we live in a four-dimensional world composed of time and the three spatial dimensions. Most humans divide time into three components: past, present, future. Language reinforces these three distinctions, though different languages may place the boundaries between them differently and may provide different sub-categories. In Western societies, time is often portrayed as a continuum in which one event follows another from the past through to the future.
Albert Einstein, a physicist well-known for his scientific theories regarding time, once wrote:
“The past, present and future are only illusions, even if stubborn ones.”
With regard to measuring the flow of time, Paul Davies, writing in
Scientific American, states:
“A clock measures durations between events much as a measuring tape measures distances between places; it does not measure the ‘speed’ with which one moment succeeds another. Therefore, it appears that the flow of time is subjective, not objective.”
How we experience time and how we organize chronology is sometimes called “mind time” and is strongly influenced by culture and language. There is a great gap between the scientific understanding of time, such as that found in Einstein’s specific theory of relativity and his general theory of relatively, and how people perceive time.
Some people have noticed that the speed of time in their lives seems to have varied: sometimes time seems to drag on and on, and other times it flows quickly by. While the ticking of the clock and the passage of years may seem to be a mechanical constant, the actual experience of time, the human essence of time, seems much more fluid. Gary Stix, writing in Scientific American¸ stated:
“The essence of time is an age-old conundrum that preoccupies not just the physicist and the philosopher but also the anthropologist who studies non-Western cultures that perceive events as proceeding in a cyclical, nonlineal sequence. Yet for most of us, time is not only real, it is the master of everything we do.”
How do you feel about time? Is it real or an illusion? Is it constant or fluid? Is it speeding up or slowing down?
This is an open thread at the intersection of politics and religion. If you have time, feel free to comment on what’s on your mind.