My Sunday Thought for 010718: One More "Time"

My mind was wandering, as it often does, somewhere in the vicinity of the Pleiades star cluster, when more mindless ramblings concerning time beat my thoughts into submission.  It turns out that my trek through time and space may not have been as simple, and direct, as I first assumed.  Silly me!

Consider the following excerpt from Scientific American called, "When Is a Straight Line Not the Shortest Distance between Two Points?" And their lead-in, "The hypotenuse of a right triangle is not always the shortest distance between the two points that define it." Granted, this is probably Greek to those who did not take algebra or geometry in high school, I did and most of it still escapes me, but I'm not going that deep into the theorem so don't be too concerned. I'd just like to scratch at a bit of the surface and show why I have issues with scientists.

"The Pythagorean Theorem only works on two-dimensional surfaces like football fields; mathematicians refer to such surfaces as Euclidean geometry (named for Euclid, the 3rd-century B.C. Greek mathematician). The theorem fails for non-Euclidean geometries, such as spheres and more complex geometries like saddles."

-- The Editors, Scientific American (11/08/2010)

Now let's consider what is said about the theorem:  It only works on two-dimensional surfaces like football fields (i.e., flat surfaces), but not on spheres.  Really?  I thought we proved the world wasn't flat, so how can it work on a football field, unless the field is on a perfectly leveled slab of concrete, but even then, if I'm correct, the concrete would level itself to the gravitational pull exerted by the earth and, hence, form itself to the contour of the earth's surface... which is not two-dimensional.  The problem with putting things in terms we can all understand would be obfuscating the proof behind the point being made and, it seems to me, scientists love to obfuscate.  But, then, I probably have this all wrong... right? 

When we discuss time, we need to keep in mind that it is just a human construct, a theorem if you will, to give a sense of expectation and memory to a reality, ours, which we fully expect to move forward with the precision of a Swiss watch; it has nothing to do with now, since being fully in the now has nothing to do with expectation or memory and, therefore cannot be measured.

“Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space. If you can bend space you can bend time also, and if you knew enough and could move faster than light you could travel backward in tie and exist in two places at once.”

-- Margaret Atwood, poet, novelist, inventor

While young, we are all taught in such a way that time is seen as a straight line from point A to point B.  Consider the description of time given by the fictional character Dr. Who, "Time isn't a straight line. It's all... bumpy-wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff. Like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything's impossible."  And we see that even Dr. Who moves dutifully in a straight line along the calendar of days from Sunday to Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with no jumping around, even though he says it's all "bumpy-wumpy."  He is correct about one thing, though, anything is possible.  Time is strange that way.

It turns out that our concept of time is simply that, a concept.  It isn't real until we observe it, and even then its observed reality depends on the perspective of the individual observer.  Time happens the way we see it because this is the way we are programmed from birth to understand it.  But, what if we were to see time in a different way, non-linear and/or interdimensional?  What if our minds were not only able to observe time in a different way, but also to control the time we perceive?

“If I keep observing the uranium, which means a little more than keeping my eyes on the pot on my desk and involves something akin to surrounding it with a whole system of Geiger counters, I can freeze it in such a way that it stops emitting radiation. Although Turing first suggested the idea as a theoretical construct, it turns out that it is not just mathematical fiction. Experiments in the last decade have demonstrated the real possibility of using observation to inhibit the progress of a quantum system.”

-- Marcus du Sautoy, mathematician, author

I have often discussed living between the ticks of a clock as if time, as we define it, stops.  How much fun would we all have, from one tick to the next, if we didn't worry about time?  Mississippi writer and novelist, William Faulkner (1897-1962), mirrored my own thoughts on this:  “Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.”

There is a theory, which I am beginning to warm up to, that time is not a line but, rather, an infinite loop similar to the symbol for infinity (∞).  The theory holds that the future ahead of us is also behind us, and the past is also our future.  In such a scenario we are, at the same time, reliving a present which we, hopefully, made better, while we are moving into a future where we have already been.  We exist in the past, present, and future, simultaneously and yet apart, and simply have to learn to control what space we inhabit at any one instant.

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”

-- Alan W. Watts (1915-1973), author, theologian, philosopher 

If all time exist in the present, then worries over the past and present are, indeed, a true waste of time.  Any issues we concern ourselves over have either already occurred and no longer exist, haven't yet come to pass, are simultaneously now occurring, have already come to pass, and will occur again.  Faulkner may have stated it best, “The past is never dead. It's not even past.”  

Regardless of how one chooses to look at time, worry would seem fruitless, yet we still worry about things over which we have no control.  What if we were to accept the instant for what it is and leave the past and the future alone... since they have already happened?  Actions we took a moment ago have already determined now and tomorrow. 

Author Ray Cummings (1887-1957), said "that time what keeps everything from happening at once."  This thought is hard to reconcile against a belief that time does not exist, in which case everything is and, again, if everything is, we simply have to learn how to move around in reality. 

Time is, it would seem, the greased pig of our perceived reality; hard to hold onto and easier to let go of.  When we're working we always wish for less of it, when we're having fun there is never enough of it, and in between work and play we sleep through a third of it.  As it stands, a third of our life is spent in another dimension anyway, that twilight zone of dreams and nightmares.  We might as well try to make the most of those dimensions we travel. 

“The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.”

-- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), author, poet, philosopher

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.