Talk:Time
Contents
No Evidence for Time
No Physical Past and No Physical Future
An important aspect of time that should be considered is that there is no physical evidence that a physical Universe exists in the past or future. All the known physical matter of the Universe has ever only been measured and observed from the present moment. No physical equation or analysis has ever been presented that would calculate the effect of mass in a past or future Universe on the present Universe such that a physical past or future could be predicted and detected. Without a physical past or physical future to travel to, any matter that could successfully leak out of the present moment would not have a physical Universe to travel to. And if a physical past or a physical future does exist, what would the granularity of time be? Would there be an entire copy of the entire physical Universe for each unit of Planck time? There is no physical evidence of any kind that suggests there is a physical Universe at any moment other than the present moment, and there are no physical laws that would describe a physical Universe for any time other than the present moment.
No Linear Time
Another important aspect of time that should be considered is that there is no physical example of linear time. There are conceptual examples of linear time, but all physical examples of time are determined by frequency. For example, a year is determined by the frequency of the Earth orbiting the Sun, a month is determined by the frequency of the Moon orbiting the Earth, a day is determined by the frequency of the Earth revolving about its axis, etc. All duration of physics is determined by the frequency of a physical process. So this implies that linear time is just a conceptualized dimension of convenience, whereas the physical expression of duration is determined by frequency.
No Time Travel
Another important aspect of time that should be considered is that there is no physical example of time travel. Relativity theories tend to explain distortions of space in terms of distorted time. However, the distortion of either space or time always takes place within the present. One object may appear to have traveled faster or slower relative to another object, but neither object ever leaves the present moment. If an object should leave the present moment, it would not be visible at all. If an object should leave the present moment and appear at a different physical time, then there would be multiple copies of that object in the time frame that was traveled to. Nobody has ever observed two of the same object inexplicably existing within the present, meaning that no physical object has ever time traveled to the present moment. If time travel was real, we would be witnessing examples of time travel all across the Universe, but none have been witnessed.
Only the Present Exists
Empirical evidence only ever shows us the present moment. We imagine a flow of time, but there is no flow of time. We are planted firmly in the present moment and we share this same present moment with the entire physical Universe. Physical matter, probably due to the half-spin nature of electrons and protons, spins only in the forward direction of time. From the perspective of an observer, who is firmly rooted in the present, the appearance of forward-time-spinning matter reveals an ever changing physical world of matter that appears to move in forward time, even while it never leaves the present moment. We name this activity as "change' and we create the concept of time to make sense of the activities. Even though physical matter appears to be moving in the forward direction of time, our perspective of "observer" always remains in the present moment. It is the appearance of forward-time-changing objects to a mind rooted in the present moment that creates the illusion of time. Despite the fact that the physical Universe displays change in the forward direction of time, our perception always takes place from right here and right now, which is the present. The mind, itself, does not experience time, but rather it chooses to perceive and project the quality of time on physical objects. We tend to think of ourselves as physical beings, but our mind is not a physical thing. Our mind only observes physical things through a physical body.
