Does Time Exist?

Before we start I'd like you to know that I don't question the amazing power of math or the amazing genius of people like Einstein and Hawking. However, I do argue that life — or the universe as a whole — cannot be defined or conquered by math. It may be comforting to believe that the laws of the universe could be captured in a few simple or even complex mathematical equations, but I don't believe that they can or ever will be. Yes — math has done amazing things for our species! It's amazing that through the wonder of math we were able to discover things like black holes — or that black holes eventually evaporate... Math has and will continue to take us ever further into the realm of understanding. But taking math alone into account leads to things like a world with 10 dimensions (string theory) or 26 dimensions (bosonic string theory). We get blinded by the math. We can't see the forest for the trees. And this is where I think some of our smartest minds have missed the mark by getting so wrapped up in their math that they miss the subtle beauty of the truth.

So is Time really a thing? I feel that Time is a human construct that allows us to define our position or place in the universe. As such, it's real for us humans as we talk about how the powers of the universe affect our lives.

That being said, Time is NOT an actual thing. My contention is that some of our greatest scientists and thinkers are simply wrong. When Einstein’s math includes a Time element (think space-time), his conclusions are flawed. As a result, our extrapolations of how life functions near a black hole are slightly flawed. Now that's a bold statement and I understand that. It took me years to allow myself to follow my gut and question what I was taught and what almost all scientists believe, but that's exactly what I'm doing. And the more I've allowed myself to think outside of the conventional box on Time, the more sure I am that I'm right.

According to the theory of relativity, Time is a pliable entity that — to make the maths work — must be relative. Most will tell us that our phones would not work without the basic knowledge of this phenomenon. I say that it's true that the devices we create to track the passage of time are affected by the force of gravity, but it's not because of the distortion of a thing called Time. Remember that I don't believe the universe knows what time is. Only humans care about the thing called Time. But the effect on our clocks that we send into space is real. If not a distortion of Time, what causes this difference? I think a better way to explain what's happening to the clocks in the satellites that run our ground based lives is to say something like this: “The atoms that make up the device that we use to track time are affected by their proximity to a large source of gravity.” That might not make sense yet, but keep reading...

When we observe time slowing as an object approaches the speed of light, or a source of gravity like a black hole, we are actually observing the affects of gravity on the atomic make up of that system or object. When an astronaut travels in space at near-light speeds and then comes home, his twin brother who was left on earth has "aged" much more than he has — true enough. But that had nothing to do with a thing called Time. Instead it had everything to do with the effects of speed on the living systems that make up the astronaut. The way the astronaut's cells function at the speed of light causes the aging process (as we know it) to slow down. The cells are affected in a different way. So — the astronaut aged at the same ticking of the clock, but the cellular process was vastly different for the two brothers. It's the affects of speed on the atomic system — not the warping of a thing called Time... This might be a subtle difference, but I believe it's fundamental to make the distinction — otherwise you're not understanding what's actually happening.

To summarize: Time does not exist out in the universe. It's a human construct. The Universe only lives in the "now." It does not care about the past or the future. It marches on in the moment and we humans invented the tracking of Time to help us know where we've been and how to move forward into the future. In short, Time does not really exist!

I invite your darts and questions.

Cheers,

Dave

P.S. I'm not a trained scientist. I hesitate to expose this because people will write me off straight away, but it's the truth — so there it is. I like to think that Einstein was a patent clerk — not a scientist, and if he can do it, so can this semi-retired IT executive. However, I'm not looking for any actual scientists to go easy on me. Rip my thoughts apart — it's the only way we learn. I put a lot of YouTube-grade research into my thoughts, but you may have new or better ways to explain things that can straighten me out, so have at it. Cheers!