When we think of time, we often assume time always was and always will be. Yet time is a man-made construct, bounded only by the limits of our minds. According to astrophysicists, the universe is fourteen Billion Years old. Earth is a mere five billion years old. To motivate this discussion of the limits of time, I ask a simple question: where were you five billion years ago when the earth was formed?
The answer you probably uttered immediately was, "I wasn't born yet;" as before you were born, time had no meaning to you. Indeed time only exists for those in this world, and even then only man really has any use for it. To understand this idea better, ask yourself whether your dog or pet cat have any perception of time. Does your dog know how many years he has been alive? Does your cat look to the future for an expected occurrence? Okay maybe the treat he knows he gets every afternoon at about 2:00 P.M. But this aside, your cat or dog does not keep track of time. While these considerations may seem trivial---even nonsensical to some---they do prod us to contemplate the fascinating implications of eternal time.
To bring time in line with something more concrete---or abstract, depending on your viewpoint---we digress to mathematics. Let us take the real number line, which is a man-made construct as well, much like time. One assumes that the one dimensional real number line projects itself infinitely in both directions, and thus only has the dimension of length, no width. With this construct, we can associate time to the real number line. For example, for each day or year or second or even millisecond, we can associate a point on the infinite real number line. In this manner, we can think of time as ticking away right along our line. Since the number line never ends time would not seem to either under this association; and since the number line is infinite in the so-called negative direction as well, we can think of time as always being.
Yet like time, the real number line is created by man. Without any sentient beings to perceive these constructs, the argument breaks down. Whether time is infinite or not depends on whether there are minds to fathom such an elegant creation. So in a sense, time can be both infinite and finite. What? That is right. If nobody is there to witness the passing of time, then time does not exist and therefore cannot be deemed infinite. Yet if someone is there to perceive its passing, time does not stop and thus can be considered infinite, or having no end.
If there is anything we can take out of this weighty discussion, it would have to be that the only really important thing is the current moment, as the past is dead and the future is unborn. Whether we consider time infinite or finite is not so important as whether we stay present in the current moment, unburdened by either past or future inconveniences. From this perspective, whether time be viewed as infinite or not, we can rest assured that the eternal present is more valuable than either of time's two faces, and only in this state can we appreciate this extraordinary man-made construct.
Joe is a prolific writer of self-help and educational material and is the creator and author of over a dozen books and ebooks which have been read throughout the world. He is a former teacher of high school and college mathematics and has recently returned as a professor of mathematics at a local community college in New Jersey.The answer you probably uttered immediately was, "I wasn't born yet;" as before you were born, time had no meaning to you. Indeed time only exists for those in this world, and even then only man really has any use for it. To understand this idea better, ask yourself whether your dog or pet cat have any perception of time. Does your dog know how many years he has been alive? Does your cat look to the future for an expected occurrence? Okay maybe the treat he knows he gets every afternoon at about 2:00 P.M. But this aside, your cat or dog does not keep track of time. While these considerations may seem trivial---even nonsensical to some---they do prod us to contemplate the fascinating implications of eternal time.
To bring time in line with something more concrete---or abstract, depending on your viewpoint---we digress to mathematics. Let us take the real number line, which is a man-made construct as well, much like time. One assumes that the one dimensional real number line projects itself infinitely in both directions, and thus only has the dimension of length, no width. With this construct, we can associate time to the real number line. For example, for each day or year or second or even millisecond, we can associate a point on the infinite real number line. In this manner, we can think of time as ticking away right along our line. Since the number line never ends time would not seem to either under this association; and since the number line is infinite in the so-called negative direction as well, we can think of time as always being.
Yet like time, the real number line is created by man. Without any sentient beings to perceive these constructs, the argument breaks down. Whether time is infinite or not depends on whether there are minds to fathom such an elegant creation. So in a sense, time can be both infinite and finite. What? That is right. If nobody is there to witness the passing of time, then time does not exist and therefore cannot be deemed infinite. Yet if someone is there to perceive its passing, time does not stop and thus can be considered infinite, or having no end.
If there is anything we can take out of this weighty discussion, it would have to be that the only really important thing is the current moment, as the past is dead and the future is unborn. Whether we consider time infinite or finite is not so important as whether we stay present in the current moment, unburdened by either past or future inconveniences. From this perspective, whether time be viewed as infinite or not, we can rest assured that the eternal present is more valuable than either of time's two faces, and only in this state can we appreciate this extraordinary man-made construct.
