The Human Construct of Time

"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

-- Albert Einstein (1879-1955), theoretical physicist

Those who read me are familiar with my thoughts on time.  Time, for other than intents and purposes, does not exist.  The notion of time was developed by intelligent creatures as a way of further structuring our lives.  Simple creatures move to warmer climes when it starts to get cold, and back when it begins to warm up.  When the animals migrate it is good hunting.  Fruit in the trees means plenty for all.  Then, one day, someone realized there is a cycle to life.  They counted the full moons between migrations, and what would become known as seasons.  Soon, "one thousand, two thousand, three thousand" became seconds and sixty seconds became an hour and there was seen to be 24 hours in what became known as a day, and so on.  Humans became organized, efficient, and anchored to this concept of time, and with it came stress, high blood pressure, drama, and fear.  Deadlines had to be met, plans had to be made, after all, there were only so many hours in a day. 

Now, I have to explain, for the League of the Perpetually Offended, that I am well aware this is an oversimplification.  I also admit that many will say time always existed and mankind simply became aware.  If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to witness it, does it make a sound?  If you follow discoveries in physics we are finding that what we perceive is not only our reality, but our reality is possibly what we expect to perceive.  If we think it, it exists.  

Let's take "nothing" as an example.  Nothing wasn't anything until it was perceived, given a name, and then it became the concept of nothing.  We have a concept of a vacuum, where nothing exists, and even this concept has issues.  There is no such thing as a total vacuum.  There is always some particle floating around in it.  What we call a "total vacuum" is simply a vacuum where we have removed as much as is probably possible, and then we add an "X" factor, the unknown factor, to make up for the rest.  There may be no true absolute of anything, there might be only as close as we can.  The rest is an illusion.  Did I hear someone yell out bullshit?

Bullshit!  The yellow flags are being thrown on the play!  Foul!  Really?  Open your mind a bit as I share an excerpt from "The Great Unknown Deluxe: Seven Journeys to the Frontiers of Science" by British author and mathemetician Marcus du Sautoy:

"Strangely, the act of observation can also stop the pot of uranium on my desk from decaying.  By continually making lots of mini-observations, try to catch it in the act of emitting radiation, I can freeze the uranium and stop it from decaying.  It's the quantum version of the old adage that a watched pot never boils.

The code-cracking mathematician Alan Turing was the first to realize that continually observing an unstable particle could somehow freeze it and stop it from evolving.  The phenomenon became known as the quantum zero effect, after the Greek philosopher who believed that because instantaneous snapshots of an arrow in flight reveal no movement, the arrow cannot in fact be moving at all.

Think of a particle that can be in two states, HERE and THERE.  Unobserved, like the electron passing through both slits at the same time, we can consider it to be a mixture of the two states, but observation forces it to decide which one.  If it decides to be HERE, then after observation it begins to evolve into a mixed state again, but observe it quickly enough and it's still mostly HERE and will probably collapse into the HERE state again.  So, by continually observing the particle, it never evolves sufficiently into the THERE state."

So, if we continually observe "time" does time stop evolving?  Is time here or there?  Is time past, now, or the future?  Does time, in effect, really exist or is it simply a conceptual tool we use to give our reality structure?

It is what it is until it isn't, and then it is what it is again.  If the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus is correct that change is the only constant in the universe, what does this say about time?  Is time simply the process we came up with in order to track said change?  And if we ignore time will it continue to exist, and will we really care if it does?

I wonder.

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 an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those 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 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved 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, and wages 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 lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.