What does it really mean when we say time passes? When we talk about the past, present, or future? For some reason, humans always felt a need to measure time. But what is time, or the concept of time? Is it something tangible, or just a figment of our imagination?
Many different theories have been developed about time, both in scientific and philosophical terms. Clocks, watches, and chronometers have been created to measure what we refer to as the passing of time. In a distant past, a sundial would be used to mark time, for example. As a species we have always been obsessed about time and how quickly, or slowly, it passes. Many writers, fascinated by the very idea, came up with stories about time travellers, easily moving from the present to the past or a distant future. One element that seems to be common to all or most theories of time is that time is something linear. In a way, we have taken the concept of space and superimposed it on time, as if moving from one year to the next were equivalent to moving from one location somewhere in space to another.
I believe this approach to be wrong. I don’t think that time is linear, something that moves, but something that simply is, something that simply exists. Over the course of our human existence, we have come up with a lot of so-called laws of nature or physics, all based on observations and conclusions drawn from them. So far, most of them have held up, although some only seem to work as intended on our own planet. The problem with the universe, and its infinite size, is that no matter how smart we think we are, we have not even begun to really understand, and comprehend, what the universe is all about. In fact, I truly believe that it is far beyond human comprehension at this point. Keep in mind that this is something tangible we’re talking about here, because, at least in theory, we can reach out and touch parts of the universe, including our own planet. We have even sent people to the surface of the moon, so they got to touch even more parts of the universe—and yet we don’t really understand anything about it. So where does that leave time?
Whatever it is, time doesn’t seem to be something tangible to us. We cannot touch it, nor can we see it. Perhaps it doesn’t exist at all, because it could simply be an interpretation that we put out there to explain, or attempt to explain, our feelings or perceptions. It is true that we can dig up artefacts from a distant past, including dinosaur bones, and this has clearly reinforced our idea of past, present and future forming a straight line. In my view, though, I don’t think that time is something that changes at all. What does change is our location in space, and time is merely a component of space. When we move from point A to point B, we can express that movement in terms of distance, say, ten metres, or we can refer to it by time, that is, the amount of time it took us to travel that particular distance. To me, it all really comes down to distance, distance travelled in space—the journey (distance!) is more important than the destination, as the old saying goes. Even the process we call aging is really movement or displacement in space. It is understandable that most people should not consider that movement, but aging is all the changes and deterioration that occur in the cells of our bodies, and those changes are minuscule, microscopic movements, if you will. Everything is in constant motion—our cells, our planet, our solar system, and our universe… and anything else that might be outside the universe. And if we apply the theory of dimensions, then we must also include the movement performed by every particle in the universe, which is its vibration at a specific frequency that allows it to be part of a specific dimension, such as ours. Add to this the possibility that things may vibrate at different frequencies, and you open yourself up to the option of several, maybe an infinite number of, dimensions. And maybe, just maybe, this totality of dimensions is what we refer to as time. Thus, all of time exists at once, but in different dimensions, that is, vibrating at different frequencies.
Some researchers have theorized that the universe is really just a gigantic quantum computer, and our brain establishes a connection to that “cloud”. They may be on to something here. For if time simply exists, and there is no past, present, and future, as I said, then what we call “memories” aren’t really memories at all, but a way for our brain to access that quantum computer. A memory that we relive in our mind could very well be happening at the very moment we think about it—at a frequency different from ours. Some people apparently have faster connections to the quantum Internet of the universe, and more bandwidth, than others. This could make all the difference between a blurry image and a very vivid experience that includes all of your senses, such as taste or smell. And if the three components of time, as we have defined them in our limited (and childlike) understanding of the world, that is, the present, past and future, all exist at once, then we also have an explanation for what are known as déjà vu experiences, including visions of the future (Nostradamus, Leonardo da Vinci).
We say our universe was created in the Big Bang, from a singularity. What if this is merely our interpretation of things, and we still exist inside such a singularity? This could explain why everything—past, present, future, different dimensions—exists at the same time.
There’s no need to put a religious spin on space and time, because I believe that based on the very nature of our existence in the universe, if we call it that, we are immortal, we are eternal, as René Descartes said: cogito ergo sum—I think, therefore I am. There’s no “I was” or “I will be”, but merely and simply “I am”. In fact, taking this a bit further, there may be no “I” either. Perhaps, “we” would be more correct if we assumed that we are all nothing more than devices connected to the same universal quantum server in the cloud (our “consciousness”).
One thing is for sure: we must recognize the fact that we really don’t know anything at all; we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of the surface. There is no such thing as “settled science”. All humanity has at this point is an assortment of assumptions, hypotheses and (religious/philosophical/political) beliefs.
Time to get moving… through space—and time?