The Consequences of Time

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It has always been my goal to challenge our understanding of reality because it is our understanding that dictates how we react to it. But let us first lay down the objective of this article. The goal is not to present an alternative scientific explanation of time or a novel philosophical discussion of the same. But we will draw upon relevant scientific theories and philosophies because they are themselves unique perspectives that may help us develop a different appreciation of time. Hopefully, a more useful and practical understanding of time should emerge.

The Idea of Time

The apparent human need to name and define things and concepts is universal. Doing so allows us to react appropriately to what we have defined 1. It makes the unknown known. And magic witchcraft spells a working understanding of what we have named and defined allows us to effectively navigate our world in order to aid in our survival.

It has been that way since the dawn of human history. Being social creatures, everything that human beings see and experience must have a name in order that we may identify them and communicate about them effectively to others. A common understanding of a concept or an idea is thus achieved.

I believe that the same is true for our notion of time. We named it and defined it in order to react appropriately to it. And having done so, we now possess a shared understanding of this particular concept to facilitate communication. The notion of time evolved into a convention around which to possibly schedule the daily human activities necessary for survival.

But what is time exactly? Has our understanding of time changed since human beings began to exist? I believe that it has.

We became accustomed to everyone’s notion of time because we were born in a world that already possesses a prior agreed upon understanding of it. Our consciousness grew around this widely held and commonly defined idea. But is our understanding of it exact?

Imagine being born into a world where everyone believes that the earth was flat 2. And there is no way of proving otherwise. Then all our ideas and actions will be based on this common notion. We would live and die knowing that the world was flat. And perhaps it would not have even mattered if we knew the truth or not.

Having considered this, is it then possible that time only exists because we think that it does? We have named it, measured it and our daily routine revolves around it. But what if our understanding of time is not accurate? What if we have gone about defining it the wrong way?