Why I think time might be an illusion.
Since birth, when we entered this reality we experience time. We grow up and get older, we see the seasons change, we experience cause and effect, we wake up in the mornings and rush to get to work etc.
We are taught that time exists. Almost everyone has a clock in their homes, the current time on their cellphones, microwaves. We need time, it organizes our lives.
Animals do not know the time, the rest of the universe do not run according to our watches/clocks. Humans are the only beings that wear watches and who’s life is ruled by time.
What if we are wrong in thinking that time exists? What am I talking about? Like stated previously humans make watches, people invented the calender for us to be able to get by in daily life, but I don’t think reality cares all that much. As far as I know time changes when you enter into deep space. How can that happen? That means time isn’t constant.
We celebrate our birthdays every year, how do you know your real age? The fact that your body gets older doesn’t automatically mean you are a certain age. Who decided that? When you are born you are already a few months old. Why don’t we then calculate those months aswell?
Change exists, ofcourse, things change all the time. Maybe that’s where time comes in. Can time exist without change? Can change exist without time?
Time moves extremely fast. We are in motion moving forward. For now… we can’t go back . We have the past, present and future, but it moves so fast that we can actually say that we are only really experiencing the ‘now’. A second passing is already in the past. We do live about 80 milleseconds in the past.
You can either see reality as three dimentional or four dimentional where time doesn’t exist. Eventhough time might be an illusion we just can’t help but still be ruled by ‘it’.
I personally don’t think time exist in the way we think it does or there’s more to it than we experience daily. I never gave it a thought but once I did it changed my perspective on reality.
I’ve always celebrated my birthday, new year’s etc and still do ( because it would be weird to other people if I don’t and I like parties and getting presents and happy birthday messages). But I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that leap year exists and then there’s one extra day and the next year it’s gone.
What happened to the days before the calender was invented? My eyes see the seasons change and I know when it’s night or day and I think that that’s all there is to it.
There is our own inner rhythm, the way we each individually experience time and reality which obviously differs. Maybe it’s more a questions of how fundamental time is?
I’m not saying that I am correct, indeed I do not know everything about the universe. I might be wrong. I choose the gray area, where I might be a little bit of both. *chuckles*
Does time exist without conciousness to observe it? Does our conciousness determine how we experience or perceive time? There’s so many mysterious things about time, scientists have been debating on this subject for years.
I’d like to know your views on time.
Feel free to comment and tell me which one you think is more probable. This post was my own views and thoughts in laymans terms.
Much love.
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Wow, this is an interesting discussion!! I feel the same though; I totally believe that humans invented ‘time’ as a way of life. Prior to that, as you said, night and day, seasons, moon cycles, tides etc would tell us ‘when’ we were, without the need for a clock. Admittedly time is handy for many things, but at the same time I think its overrated. Obviously life moves on in a somewhat linear manner (or so it seems) but I do feel we stress about time – or lack of it – more than we should.
When it comes to the question of whether time exists without consciousness to observe it, my immediate answer is no, because according to my understanding of quantum physics, nothing exists without observation. But at the same time, things seem to change without observation. E.g. if someone steps in a forest clearing in spring, then no one goes near it again until winter, its going to look very different. Did it actually change, or is it the observer’s assumptions that make it change? Is it ‘time’ that caused the change, or just some sort of natural progression that we don’t really understand, but which we label as ‘time’? Argh! This kind of stuff can really mess with your head!
Totally!That’s the beauty of life and reality, I don’t think we will ever fully understand it. It makes for great mind exercise though 🙂 I think on the subject of observation it might be a little bit of both. It’s like the story of the tree in the forest… if it falls and there’s no one to hear it does it still make a sound? In the end reality will still be the same day after day. Thank you for your interesting response, it’s appreciated, and taking the time to read my post. Don’t let it mess with your head, uncertainty is part of life and then there’s also people who says that time isn’t an illusion. Haha, life!