Is Time an Illusion?

Time does not exist in nature separate from man. But that is not the same as saying 'time is an illusion'. Time is a man-made invention and is used as a measure of instances from one period on to another.

Now, in terms of an existential entity called time, which one could identify in the physical universe... like an atom or an apple. That is of course a false proposition. But one could say the same thing for words. If I pick up a rock, I identify it through that label 'rock'. But nothing within existence which is separate from man's conscious mind exists in wordily form as "rock". Language like time is a tool of the conscious mind. But again this is not the same as time being an illusion, anymore than language is.

Time is an aspect of mankind's memory. We are able to mark time for the simple following reason: We have an awareness of past events and future possibilities, through stored memories and that awareness creates the mind space that allows us to infer timescales on events.

So, what one could say is that time does not exist as an existential entity, independent of man. Rather, time only exists as an invention of man, as a tool to mark timescales as we move through space and we relate that space to events in memory.

Time did not always exist, in the same way as the wheel did not always exist. They are both man-made inventions. One is a physical object that exists independently of the mind and the other exists as a consciously held concept. But the fact that one is a consciously held concept with no physical form, does not make it any less real. The fact that we can use time as a scale and we create instruments (watches and clocks) to mark passing moments, is as real as any man-made wheel.

Time in one respect does exist as a real event, which is as physically real as the man-made wheel. The hand on the clock, ticking by second by second, that is a physical event. But of course beyond man's conscious awareness of the event it becomes meaningless. But then again so would the wheel and neither could exist in the first place, without a conscious mind with the capacity to invent them.

Time is a form of measurement. It measures events as they move along in our mind and gets stored as memories. It is only our conscious ability to take 'time-out' and think in terms of past and future that gives time meaning.

Of course in reality, there is no past and there is no future. There are only universal actions in the present. From that perspective time does seem like an illusion. Indeed, existentially speaking time is illusory, because without reference to a conscious mind which could be aware of time, then time does become meaningless.

If one took existence to mean everything bar conscious awareness, then time disappears into the 'ether' and has no more validity than unicorns.

But the very fact that mankind does have the mind-space that allows individuals to hold memories, is the very ability that separates man from the present moment. Of course mankind cannot literally separate himself from the present moment. But he can juxtapose the present moment against past memories and this allows him; to then think beyond the past and the present and on into the future.

For example, if a man puts a foot mark in the sand and then begins to walk. The very fact that he can remember his first footstep; is what gives him the ability to timescale the passing of time as one foot is placed in front of another.

Time is nothing more than an instrument of measurement of the passing of moments in memory. Just as the scales of metric meters and imperial yards are man-made inventions to measure hight, depth and width.

Time then, is a man-made invention that allows us to measure moment to moment increments, defined by us in scales such as minutes and hours.

So the conclusion is that time has no meaning universally in a universe void of conscious beings. Indeed, such a universe is mindless and time would be irrelevant. A universe void of consciousness would not only be incapable of measuring time, it wouldn't even care.

Time relates to the memory of conscious beings and while conscious beings exist so will time.




How I make money from this article and how you can make money too. Please Click here to email me! Please do not remove 'permission' from body of email.

* Brain Bullet
o New software reprograms your mind with positive, powerful commands!

Understanding the Concept of God

The God concept is a man invented, arbitrary mind spun speculation. The God concept has no connection to reality.

The concept of God is based on the belief in the supernatural. Supernatural simply means above nature (there is nothing above nature, existence, exists and only existence, exists). Thus, to know God one would have to step outside of reality to know. In other words one would have to defy the laws of physics to know.

The concept of God is as meaningless as any other supernatural, none objectively identifiable concept ...such as ghosts, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, hobgoblins, werewolves vampires and so on.

The belief in God is simply an acceptance of a mystical concept, based on faith and handed down through tradition. Indeed, tradition is a funny thing ...the more time has passed since a belief is held through tradition, the more people believe it, as if somehow the passage of time makes something more true. As for faith, it is simply the belief in something without evidence.

The point is that one cannot prove or disprove God because it is an arbitrary speculation. The arbitrary is neither true nor false. It is just a mind-spun ejaculation. It is a cognitively dead concept, that has no connection to objective reality.

The fact that one cannot prove or disprove the arbitrary is not proof that it exists. Rather, it is proof that it is meaningless. As an example, if I said, "I believe that there are invisible aliens walking our streets," you could not prove or disprove it because it is an arbitrary man made speculation, with no objective connection to reality. Such speculations are meaningless and deserve no objective consideration.

Higher level concepts such as species are not objectively identifiable as individual entities in reality ...meaning, you cannot point to an individual object in reality called species. However, this alone does not make it an arbitrary concept. Species is a complex higher level concept used as a cognitive mental tool by man. One can connect species with the concept animal and from animal one can point to a dog called spot. Thus, there is a complex chain of hierarchical concepts that lead from species to a dog called spot. This is exactly what one cannot do with the God concept ...nothing in a chain of concepts can lead an individual, from an abstract mental concept to a concrete identifiable God and that is because it is an arbitrary concept with no connection to realty.

It is a common approach of many theists to say to an atheist... "you cannot prove God does not exist" as if the lack of evidence against there being a God, is proof for it. This is very faulty reasoning. As any scientist will tell you, you cannot prove a negative.

In a court of law if someone is accused of a crime, then in an honest court system, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. For the same reason, if someone claims that God exists, then the burden of proof is theirs. It is not up to the disbeliever to prove God does not exist, it is up to the believer to prove he does.

How I make money from this article and how you can make money too. Please Click here to email me! Please do not remove 'permission' from body of email.

* Writer's Block CD
o Experience creativity on demand, and eliminate Writer's Block for good!

The Concept of Reality

Reality exists independent of the mind. The mystic is often heard to say "reality is an illusion". But if it were true that reality was merely a figment within imagination, then by definition we would not be able to concretize that 'reality' through the laws of nature.

The fact that the conscious mind sometimes poorly grasps aspects of reality, says more about human consciousness than it does about reality. Indeed, those trained in the sciences are often better at framing existence and identifying aspects of reality, than are those untrained in such endeavors.

Just because certain aspects of reality are hard to grasp is not an excuse to say: "Therefore reality is an illusion". ...Rather, we should readily understand that reality is full of complexities. Indeed, the physicist Richard feynman once said: "I think it is safe to say that no one understands Quantum Mechanics.".

Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University gives a good evolutionary definition of why our brains might be so poorly adapted to grasp the universe, at the level of the very small. We evolved in nature in what he calls "middle World" - and thus, the very small and indeed the very big, did not impinge on our senses. Thus, we have not evolved brains which are particularly good at grasping aspects of reality outside the realm of middle-world sense perception (not to be confused with Tolkien's Middle-Earth in Lord of the Rings).

I take reality to mean the totality of existence. Thus, the concept reality simply means all of existence. In other words every aspect of existence is part of reality. Thus, reality simply means everything which is real.

But what does it mean to say everything which is real? ...Is there any need for the qualification 'everything'? Well, if reality means the sum of everything in existence which could be subsumed to be real, then what else is there. Only a mystic believes in the supernatural realm of the unreal. Therefore there is no need to qualify reality with the statement "everything that is real" ...Because there is no such thing as the unreal... The real is all there is. Well, at least that is so in the mind of the objective thinker who does not believe in supernatural claims, which presume unreal realms and unreal entities such as: heaven, hell, God, ghosts etc.

Supernatural simply means 'above nature'. But this is really the same as saying non-reality or reality in suspension and the suspension of the laws of physics. Again, this is another way of a mystic making the claim that reality is an illusion.

The rational individual knows that the laws of physics cannot be suspended. The theists have a name for this suspension, they call it a miracle. But again we are in the realm of fatuous arbitrary claims. Has anyone ever produced scientific evidence that points to even the smallest possibility of miraculous events? No, never.

A mystical minded tribesman may stand fixed on the spot and wish for a miracle as the tsunami races toward his rooftop. But this is simply an obfuscation of the real and pretense that reality can budge to his inner whim or prayer. Reality will not budge and it will not because it will always obey the laws of physics, independent of the mind... That is reality.

Reality is a man-made concept. It is a conceptual label of mankind, used to identify laws of nature within existence. But existence itself is not dependent on mans mind... Existence simply is.

Albert Einstein once said: "Existence, exists" ...I take that to mean that existence simply is. it is eternal and thus has no prior cause, first mover or God. It, is certainly true that our own universe at one time didn't exist. But that is not the same as saying existence at one time did not exist. I take our universe to be one small part of existence and I would go further and say existence must exist everywhere and there is no place where it cannot exist. Now, perhaps some areas of existence contain dead universes with no life whatsoever... But they would still exist and would therefore be part of reality. Therefore their is no place anywhere, where reality is not... There is no such thing as nothing from which something can be born. There is only an all pervasive existence which we identifiy as reality.

How I make money from this article and how you can make money too. Please Click here to email me! Please do not remove 'permission' from body of email.

* Quick Cash Writing Course
o Turn your writing skills into quick cash, with this brand new course