The Concept of Time
The problem of time has been
fascinating thinkers since ancient times. Many philosophers, such as Plato,
Aristotle, Kant, and scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein have
tried to conceptualize and analyze time in many ways. According to Albert
Einstein, time is an illusion, and it exists to keep everything from happening
at once.
There are two main recognized
concepts about time: the physical time which is objective, and psychological time which is subjective and has a mind-dependent
existence. A more radical third concept is- does time really exist?
In the Theravada, the Buddhist
holy book, the idea that time does not exist, independently, is quite
significant. Although many thinkers were interested in investigating the
concept of time, only some agree that time's existence depends on the mind.
To comprehend the concept of
the non-existence of time, let us assume that there is no moon and the Earth
does not rotate on its axis, i.e., there is no sunrise or sunset, only
perpetual days on one side (facing the
sun), and nights on the other side (opposite
to the sun) of the Earth. Life evolved in a thin area between the day-night
sides. Sapiens of this hypothecated world would never be capable of developing
the idea of time. For them, time bears no meaning.
This section is about time,
non-conclusive, but exploring different concepts, including- ‘Time’ as another
fundamental force of nature that rips apart the universe from the point of its
singularity, and still pushing the universe to expand.