As one approaches this place, they move more and more slowly until they reach the center and stop. From this center of time, time travels outwards in concentric circles. If you approach the center you get to keep the perfect moment forever and achieve eternal happiness. If you choose to go outwards, you choose to live noble life but can't eliminate sadness. Under which circumstances would it be worth staying at the center of time?
2006-08-19 16:55:09 · 19 answers · asked by gudrun077 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
If you're a president that's about to be impeached?
idk, I'm just wondering, what would happen if I got close to the center, and threw one end of a rope at the center. Could I pull it back? Could I lasso someone standing there, and bring them back to reality? Maybe I could throw my daughter in there, and she'd stay cute and young the rest of my life, and I'll never become a grandpa...
2006-08-19 17:38:39 · answer #1 · answered by 42ITUS™ 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My grandfather always presented abstract ideas to me. One was similar to this. He said as a wheel on a car turns, there is a point on the wheel that does not move. I have thought about this for years. My conclusion is this point is only theoretical. In life, there is not always satisfying answers to perplexing questions. The point in the middle is the place everyone is trying to reach but cannot get to. Life is like a merry-go-round that is moving so fast we can never pull ourselves to the middle-it just keeps throwing us off. But we climb back on and exert all our life’s energy to reach the middle. The fascinating thing about approaching the middle is that time really does stand still. There are many names for this phenomenon, the zone, nirvana, or even getting lost in someone's eyes. No wonder lives are often expended, families broken and fortunes spent trying to achieve that state of mind. And yet it is so elusive. It is the thing that causes our hindsight to remain in such a perfectly focused state. This is the way life works. Gotta love it.
My answer to your question is I have been and will continue to fight with all my mental, emotional, and physical might to reach the center no matter what the cost. Life is too prescious and short to waste striving for any other goal, no matter how noble.
2006-08-20 17:13:30 · answer #2 · answered by Type3Thinker 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I used to daydream of this very scenario as a kid. Even then I wanted to escape from my daily agony and just live in one moment of my choosing for the rest of my life. I would pick the moment of course and it would be one that had no ackwardness or embarrassment or teasing from other kids. There would be no screaming and shouting from family members and those who were included in my stationary bubble of time would only be my friends. The rest of the world would simply be frozen in time until I decided to restore normalcy, if and when I decided to do so.
I haven't thought of that in years but it is still a good dream. Would I do as you suggest if it were possible today? Oh yes, absolutely! I would plan the exact moment I wanted to begin my exile and include only those I wanted to spend my eternity with. They, of course, would also be sheltered from the influences of the outside world. I would make sure I had all my favorite things with me and I would begin as soon as possible.
You see, I have lived many years since those days in school and I have only confirmed for myself that sadness and pain seem to have no ending. I've had many happy times of course, but every wonderful moment is always countered by so many others that make us sad or hurt us. My faith has helped me through the years, but even in that there can be sadness. Many friends and loved ones have moved in and out of my life; some have left good memories behind but others have left only the emptiness and sadness you mentioned.
I know I could never control time, perhaps that's best. But if I could I would, in a heartbeat. I know those I would have with me and I wouldn't look back.
Some have mentioned here that sadness and pain must be experienced to truly appreciate happiness. That is probably true. But I have already walked that path, I'm ready to have the other for a good long while.
2006-08-23 03:43:58 · answer #3 · answered by AK 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If I understand the parameters of your question correctly, it is possible to either reach the 'timeless center' and effectively cease to exist (no passage of time) or to strive for it, but it is not possible to reach the center and actually experience anything (no TIME for your brain cells to process any information). I can imagine circumstances under which I would like to simply 'stop', but I cannot imagine circumstances under which I would 'freeze'... yet still be able to enjoy it.
2006-08-25 01:09:16 · answer #4 · answered by deputyindigo@sbcglobal.net 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the outwards path involves an eternity of watching sports movies based on true events
2006-08-20 00:03:07 · answer #5 · answered by Leroy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I like your question, is it possible to venture out away from the center and make your way back when you realize that our existence is in fact just a condition of not knowing the truth.
I feel like I was born, learned my parents and people around me didn't understand what I thought I did, and now feel I am close to returning back. Is it possible to return back , is what I am confused about while I still eat, sleep, breath or do I have to live close to the center but not quite until I die and give up my physical form?
2006-08-24 10:54:03 · answer #6 · answered by jamieson_smith29 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No circumstances whatsoever.
An infinitely stretched moment could bring eternal happiness, yes, but neither could you experience anything other than that one moment. Lack of experience and sensation would lead to a blissful, but sad, stagnation.
Happiness cannot be valued without a scale of measurement. In other words, in order for happiness to be perceived, something other than happiness (pain? sadness?) must also be perceived.
2006-08-20 00:08:38 · answer #7 · answered by KO 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I truly believe that there always the hope and expectations of something better ahead of you. And if you go through life just looking for contentment or compactness then your truly not living but wasting air that could be better utilized be someone with the hunger to truly live life to it's fullest for all it's trials and tribulations, accomplishments, sucess and failures only then are you truly living.
2006-08-20 00:11:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Id stay in the center,no need to go outward.Grass is not always greener on the other side
2006-08-25 19:01:03 · answer #9 · answered by mustang 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Time is something that we created. What we perceive and believe is an illusion vieling a true reality that is all around. I definitely agree with you that sadness is a symptom of this perception......
2006-08-20 00:09:38 · answer #10 · answered by B-Truth 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋