Is Time a Fact?

[dybmh]

Time is a fact, but it's nothing like we perceive it. In that sense, it's also an illusion.

Not as we perceive it. Past events still exist, and are just as 'real' as those we currently perceive. Moreover, there's nothing in general relativity that prevents time from 'flowing' either way. The "arrow of time" is largely in our heads.

This is an excellent, short, simplified exploration of the concept:

What are the implications of this on freewill? Are our choices and the outcomes predetermined?

Also is it , in theory, possible to change the past?

 

[Polymath257]

Does space exist or is it an illusion?

Space and time together form the background geometry of the universe.

Our perceptions are another thing, the direction being based on the arrow of entropy and dependent on a particular frame of reference.

 

[Yerda]

The idea of time as an illusion is very confusing. We (the royal We) don't seem to be able to reason without the use of ideas like before and after. I can't think of anything that we can do think or say that doesn't have temporality baked right into it.

 

[exchemist]

The idea of time as an illusion is very confusing. We (the royal We) don't seem to be able to reason without the use of ideas like before and after. I can't think of anything that we can do think or say that doesn't have temporality baked right into it.

Agreed. As far as I know, it is only the concept of "flow" of time that physics maybe calls into question. The concept of the ordering of events - which you describe - seems to be uncontroversial (within a given frame of reference - due deference being shown to the relativity of simultaneity).

 

[Valjean]

The idea of time as an illusion is very confusing. We (the royal We) don't seem to be able to reason without the use of ideas like before and after. I can't think of anything that we can do think or say that doesn't have temporality baked right into it.

Quite correct. Biologically we have no need to grok reality. We need to be able to find food and shelter, anticipate danger, &c. Our brains, like the rest of our bodies, were molded by our hunter-gatherer existence during 99% of our evolution.

Apparent reality is an abstract representation created in our brains. It's utilitarian, uses lots of shortcuts and cherry-picks input.

 

[Milton Platt]

I find these questions to hold enormous weight in many other domains of inquiry.

Is time merely an illusion?

Or is temporal passage a reality?

Does a measurement of the intervals between events matter in practice? In life?

Whether or not it is an illusion or not seems not to matter in practical terms. We experience time and must act accordingly.

 

[Valjean]

What are the implications of this on freewill? Are our choices and the outcomes predetermined?

Also is it , in theory, possible to change the past?

You're asking questions beyond my pay grade, Dybmh, and ones that would probably take whole textbooks to answer, and be answered differently from different points of view.

Me, I tend to look at reality as layered, and an experiential hierarchy.

 

[MNoBody]

time and space, given we imperfectly perceive these abstract ideas, they would appear as incomplete which would generate the element or feel of being illusionary [perplexing, unknown, vague], like all other things do when they are imperfectly perceived.
we appear to be capable of only a limited amount of what we would need to do to get past this hurdle as a species.

 

[coconut theology]

Is Time a Fact?

When did you ask this question, perhaps that will help us know?

 

[atanu]

Your post is over one-year old, so tell me what you have learned. What will replace it?

See below.

Thanks for reminding me of the vedantic perspective. What makes you think that consciousness is the foundation rather than just another human limitation?

Awareness as experienced is always awareness of object/s, including mental objects, and thus is experienced as limited and fleeting. It has given rise to the notion that awareness does not exist on its own. It is like a person who has known oneself only in a mirror may surmise a non-existent self if the mirror is removed.

But some have been able to remain as awareness itself without any object whatsoever partitioning it. These people teach us that awareness is the foundation of the existence-universe. They have also prescribed methods to attain this knowledge. Some of us might have had success with these prescribed methods.
...

 

[WalterTrull]

Very useful...so I guess a fact. Other than the way we coordinate, probably not much. I'm kind of a "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." kind of guy.

 

[paarsurrey]

See below.



Awareness as experienced is always awareness of object/s, including mental objects, and thus is experienced as limited and fleeting. It has given rise to the notion that awareness does not exist on its own. It is like a person who has known oneself only in a mirror may surmise a non-existent self if the mirror is removed.

But some have been able to remain as awareness itself without any object whatsoever partitioning it. These people teach us that awareness is the foundation of the existence-universe. They have also prescribed methods to attain this knowledge. Some of us might have had success with these prescribed methods.
...

" They have also prescribed methods to attain this knowledge. Some of us might have had success with these prescribed methods."

Please quote the methods from the sources and the reasons given in the sources also, please.

Regards

 

[Cooky]

Is length a fact?

Not necessarily. There is a theory that eventually, after all the stars die out, and after the age of black holes comes to an end, that molecules will dissipate into nothing, leaving a dark, empty universe, void of all matter.

...At that point, neither time nor length will be real.

 

[paarsurrey]

Not necessarily. There is a theory that eventually, after all the stars die out, and after the age of black holes die out, that molecules will dissipate into nothing, leaving a dark, empty universe, void of all matter.

...At that point, neither time nor length will be real.

Sorry to ask one, but I am curious!
Since religion is a personal matter, reply only if one likes to, please?
What is one's religion/ideology, please?

Regards

 

[Straw Dog]

Matter to whom?

To individuals observing and remembering events.

 

[Straw Dog]

Time exists because entropy shows it.

How so?

My layman’s understanding of entropy is that the universe is moving towards greater ‘disorder’, or from a state of non-equilibrium to total equilibrium of energy, such that no more useful work can be done with it.

 

[Straw Dog]

Time is a fact, but it's nothing like we perceive it. In that sense, it's also an illusion.

Not as we perceive it. Past events still exist, and are just as 'real' as those we currently perceive. Moreover, there's nothing in general relativity that prevents time from 'flowing' either way. The "arrow of time" is largely in our heads.

This is an excellent, short, simplified exploration of the concept:

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!

Yes, slices of ‘now’. So in a real sense, the past is now and the future is now, existing simultaneously. In different ways, time is a fact, a theory, and merely an illusion. Our ordinary language and ‘common sense’ experience is just imprecise in understanding it.

 

[Wandering Monk]

How do?

My layman’s understanding of entropy is that the universe is moving towards greater ‘disorder’, or from a state of non-equilibrium to total equilibrium of energy, such that no more useful work can be done with it.

 

[Straw Dog]

That’s a great example. Thanks.

So the sand castle is in a state of low entropy, or non-equilibrium, and the sand pile is in a state of high entropy, or greater equilibrium between sand particles.

Do you think ‘time’ is just our perception and conception of the real experience of entropy?

 

[Wandering Monk]

That’s a great example. Thanks.

So the sand castle is in a state of low entropy, or non-equilibrium, and the sand pile is in a state of high entropy, or greater equilibrium between sand particles.

Do you think ‘time’ is just our perception and conception of the real experience of entropy?

Not really sure. Entropy seems to squeeze you into a cause/effect frame of reference. The interval between a cause and its effect is what we seem to call time.