what is time isnt it really just imaginary ?

Question

i think time is just a result of our imagination . there is nothing like time. the only thing that exists is change. and it is only change whichwe call time

Answer 1

Time is a measurement of oscillations in an object which begins with a state, changes, then returns to that state. Our measurements of time are (and you know this) based on oscillations of orbits of our planet, lunar periods, and rotations of our planet. More and more precision can be made by measuring objects that have a more definite oscillation.
Calling time a result of our imagination would be true in some way, but it wouldn't be fair. That would be similar to calling length, breadth, and width only a "result of our imagination."

However, your thought would be supported by using the fact that time can also be looked at as a change in entropy in a system. "Time" is really just increased entropy, or a change.

(In response to Stanley K)
I don't think that time dilation is pertinent here. The muon, in its reference frame, decays just as fast as one that appears stationary from our reference frame. Since we aren't really talking about measuring other objects' "time", we only have to make observations from our own perspective.

Answer 2

Time is real in so far as it measures the duration of the change resuting from action.and motion. if thereis no motion time will be freezed . It is not a thing . it is a comncept . what about numbers ? arre they real ? We have real numbers and unreal numbers . That is a different .from what we are now discussiong .But number is not a thing . It can be applied to and related to anything . It is a concept that anybody and everybody understands . The same way time is also understood as the duration of some action and change.
Time is related to the beginning of some event and measured by the duration of the change or motion. If here is no evn thre will be no time .
What is mind ? What is thought ? Are they real or imaginary?Thoughts and minds can be changed and reversed and time can not bge reversed . if it isimaginary , it can be reversed . Can you be though to be of one year of age or considered to be a baby? Can you change yourself to be a baby in diaper ? in the matter of change and events time plays an important part and it measures the duration of change from the coming inot being or start of some event . In th euniverse time is supposed to have comenced from the momentof the start of the event of Big Bang . It is a fact that several million years have gone by since then. It is not imaginary.

Answer 3

time is entirely a subjective quantity - yes , the day comes and goes, and thus we mark the passage of time by day length, or solar cycles, whatever you choose to describe it as. However - within the human mind - we frequently transcend time. Time as an identifiable quantity is entirely a construct of the (mostly) European mind. The Chinese took care to measure time, but what indeed do we look at when we look at time. The passage of a defined number of atomic oscillations? True, but not relevant to our existance. Look up the Mayan calendar, fifty two thousands at a time, many katuns.Time is what you have when your eyes open each day. Every moment cannot be taken back, and every moment speeds you on your way. And imagination is the best tool we humans have to dispel the effects of time.

Answer 4

Um, not theory, more like philosophy. A theory is a testable hypothesis that has not been falsified, whereas this more a framework with which to view reality.

I would say that perhaps no cosmologist really can answer "what is time?" to the satisfaction of everyone.

However, we understand that cause-->effect and thus there must be a before and after-- there must be some element of irreversibility of change. How we constuct this is through the concept of time.

Answer 5

No, that theory ignores time dialation, which basically says that the faster an object moves, the slower in time that it goes. For instance, a muon that is not moving decomposes much quicker than a muon that is moving fast. Thus, although time is a "change," the rate of change is variable from object to another and thus is cannot be merely a product of our imagination.

Answer 6

Time is relative. It is not a physical manifestation, it is a relation between two things, much like distance in many ways.

Time is a purely human concept invented to help us bring meaning to the world around us. Without the concept of time we, as a species, would be stuck back in pre-history, with no science, no (recognisable) society and no ability to drag ourselves out of the quagmire.

As humans we have an innate awareness of the world around us and the concept of time was conceived to help bring meaning and understanding to our surroundings.

You are quite correct in your assumption that time is not real, only change is. However, how do you quantify or understand change without the concept of time?

Answer 7

Time doesen't exist. There's no such thing as the beginning of time. The void of nothingness, that the universe used to be, has always been there. It didn't start nor will it end.

Does time only mean the events since the start of the big bang.

Answer 8

Time, in my opinion, is multi-dimensional: Time that we earthlings know of, and the Time with respect to the universe. Even here, the Time for a man on earth is of 24-hour format but it is not the same for a man in space...Maybe its right to say that Change is what we call Time!

Answer 9

Time to me is just a way we on earth measures things, if you look at any other planet time is different, take mercury for an example. its year is twice as long as its day because it rotates just about 3 times in two revolutions around the sun. Because mercury has an elipical orbit, it has two sun rises. Time here is different.

Answer 10

Time is an abstract. It is not a property of any item or place.
The quantities are assigned due to some form of relationship and/or relativity to the observer.
Remove the observer - does it exist?

Is that the time, got to go.