New Analysis of Time

"...the general view today of scientifically minded philosophers concerning temporal passage is that it is a subjective illusion."

Quoted by permission from A Model of the Universe by Professor Storrs McCall. (Bibliographic Note: "A Model of the Universe," ©by Professor Storrs McCall, of the philosophy faculty, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; published by Oxford University Press, New York, 1994; paperback, 1996.)

This web site is a call for adoption of a new analysis of time for the new millennium. My analysis represents application of the "Occam's Razor" principle to reduce the time phenomenon (physical change) to a basic logical expression. I ask the question, "What is the cause of our perception of time?" And I answer by saying, "The time phenomenon is caused simply by:

This web site is devoted to my long-held belief that the flow of time is mind-dependent. So much so that I believe all time phenomena (the features of the universe which cause us to experience time flow) can be attributed to motion through space of matter and energy.

Because these events occur at varying rates of velocity, there is not only no absolute time, but there is no time at all in the universe itself. Time resides solely in the mind of the sentient being who observes time phenomena. Events occur in the universe over a vast range of time intervals. None represent any standard interval, except as established human observers. Instead, one can think of events as flexible rooms along the corridor of time.

Thus in my analysis, there can be no "present moment" except in the observer's mind. It follows then that absolute position of all things in the known universe at any "present moment" is also mind-dependent and also can exist only as a mental concept. One cannot have absolute position without also having absolute time!

When in November 1999 I read Professor McCall's chapter, "The Direction and Flow of Time" from A Model of the Universe. I was relieved. It was good to know that others could see the mind-dependence of this phenomenon. I had worked this out 40 years ago as an Ohio University physics student, expecting to go on graduate school and earn a doctorate. However, I did not have the means to continue to the doctor's degree. There seemed no way for me to express my views on time and be taken seriously.

Now the Internet is available and so is the quote from McCall's book. I write with only the authority of a retired science writer. But if my new analysis is useful, it will prove itself.

Also, if most scientifically astute philosophers believe time flow is an illusion, I have good company in holding the views expressed in this web site. (Professor McCall does not include himself in this group).

Why are these philosophers ahead of physicists, astronomers and cosmologists in holding this view? Since ancient times, philosophers have attempted to analyze the workings of the universe with logic. Long before science could probe its mysteries, for example, Greek philosopher Democritus (460-370 BC) developed the first atomic theory of the universe.

The flow of time has so far eluded science's ability to detect. I and the above mentioned philosophers believe that is because this phenomenon is a mental process only. Every day, every hour, every minute of one's life, more "pages" or "files" of experience are added to one's memory as reported by our senses. Surely it this ongoing process which creates our very necessary sense of the flow of time. Thus we know whom we are, where we've been, where we're at and where we're going.

All our thought processes involve chemical/electrical activity in our brains. So even as our minds work to experience time flow, this activity itself represents motion of matter and energy through space, no matter how small a space it is!

My interest in science fiction began in high school in 1951. I soon became a science fiction fan and avidly read magazines and novels and also fan publications. I enjoyed reading stories about time travel, even though the idea seemed quite impossible. H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and many other stories about time travel led me to conduct a "thought experiment" about time. Was there a "river of time" a time machine could ride? It occurred to me that only "the present time" exits.

I decided everything that ever happened, happened in "the present" or "now."

It happened 100 years ago? Well, when it happened it was "now." It only became "then" when the progression of events continued (more motion through space by matter and energy). Nothing happens in the past and nothing happens in the future. Think about it! Can you prove me wrong?

Then I asked myself, what happens that causes the illusion of time flowing from past to present to future? The answer was "physical events." This early analysis led to my contribution of an article 1954 in a science fiction fan magazine. This short piece, called "No More Time" was the first and only publication of my philosophy of time until now.

First stage: article "No More Time" appeared in July, 1954 amateur publication, Canadian Fandom

Second stage: "The Fiction of Time" written in August-September 1959 (unpublished manuscript).

Third stage: this web site "New Analysis..." published online in December, 1999

William D. Conner, 24, poses with science fiction fan magazine at Ohio Motel, Chillicothe, Ohio, August 1959

At the time this photo was taken, I was working on "The Fiction of Time," which expanded on the ideas briefly sketched in "No More Time."

This article on the phenomenon of time was written in 1959. A long time ago. But I know when because I found a reference to it in my file of old correspondence – a letter dated October 1, 1959 written to a fan and friend, who later became a science fiction and fantasy author: the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of the 1988 best-seller "Mists of Avalon." I had unrealistic ideas of submitting the article to a science fiction magazine, but of course, this didn’t happen. Instead, I was attending Ohio University as a physics major and expected one day to have the doctorate, which would be needed to get my ideas on time seriously considered. This also didn’t happen.

The need to get a four-year degree and a job was too great. By 1964, I was married, had a BS degree in journalism and a newspaper job. Later, I satisfied my scientific ambition, at least to some degree, by becoming a science writer for the Bell Laboratories Public Relations Group at corporate headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey in 1977 (as I looked while working there in 1978 in the uniform of the day, on left)

Today, in 2000, I think my analysis of the nature of time is quite correct. Also today, thanks to the wonderful Internet and World Wide Web, it is possible for anyone to publish their work where it can be accessed by anyone who finds it of interest.

My renewed interest in my philosophy of time, 40 years later, was occasioned by a recent episode of the PBS Program, Nova, about the possibility of time travel. I was amazed that physicists and cosmologists, including the famous Stephen Hawking, aren't much further along in their understanding of the phenomenon than 40 years ago.

They are still talking about "space-time" when to me, only space and the motion of matter and energy in it, are real. Time is but an observer's perception of and comparison of these motions, and does not separately exist as a part of nature. Time is really only a concept which exists in the minds of human beings. It is a very useful concept, but it has no existence compared to things that do exist, such as atoms of matter and photons of light.

When the observer is removed, the time illusion disappears and "space-time" is replaced by "space."

The 1959 article has been edited some for its publication here, but essentially is what I believed in 1959.

According to current theory, time stops (as viewed by a distant observer) at the event horizon of a black hole. While light cannot escape from a black hole, matter and light can fall in.

However, if time = motion through space as is argued by this web site, time could not stop as the in-falling matter and light entered the black hole at the event horizon. I'm arguing that wherever there is motion through space, time phenomena occurs.

Those who say there is an actual flow of time in the universe must also claim that there is some sort of "present moment" to encompass all events carried by this flow. If there is a flow from present to past, then it seems there has to be a "now" reference point. All events identified as occurring "now" would flow into "then." But this seems impossible to this writer, because different kinds of events, to say the least, do not occur simultaneously.

Would only events occurring within one second of time be recorded by "the now?" How about events which occur much faster, hundreds or thousands of times a second? Or, how about events which take several minutes, hours or days to be completed? Obviously, these slower events do not take place in what we feel is "the now." Neither do those events which occur hundreds or thousands of times a second.

So, what is "the now?" It is simply our human-scaled perception of eternity which operates second by second, more or less. Thus "the now" is shackled to the speed at which we perceive and think. Therefore, it's evident we ourselves are the imperfect recording devices which capture experience moment by moment and record it in our memories.

It is we who experience events in "the now" and record them in our memories. We are responsible for time flow. It only occurs mentally. Time is not a "fourth dimension" but our imperfect memory of events which occur in eternity.

Can my new analysis be applied to current cosmological theory? Bookmark this site for updates. Also, I challenge one and all to tell me where I'm wrong about this analysis. Can you prove that events happen in the future or past? Can you prove that time somehow actually flows through the universe? I can't.

{I graciously accept criticism, praise, spelling corrections, suggestions, etc.)