Is time an illusion? Is concept of time an artificial creation that deludes us?

Question

What are the ramifications for our perception of reality if there is no time, and past present and future are all happening "now?"

Answer 1

The truth is time is an illusion.
But as humans we are wired to think in linage's, and that includes the use of time as we know it.

As we evolve we will gain the wisdom and understanding that everything is happening at the same time, and we will not have the need for time as we know it now.

The past is history, the future is a mystery, and the present moment is a gift.

Answer 2

Time is no more of an illusion than the rest of reality which is also limited by our perception (thus our illusion via our perception of what reality looks like).
The concept of time can be deemed man's discovery or Creation. However, the concepts of time and measurement are often confused (as in most of the previous answers). The sun comes up, the sun sets, the earth rotates, objects and people wear and show the effects of time. This is what makes carbon dating and dating of stars possible.
However, mankind created/chose to call the time between the sun coming up, going down, and coming up again 24 hours. This measurement is artificial. Time in string theory is simply another dimension (though a poorly understood one).
It is a problem in physics as to why we have access to the past and not the future. However, our perceptions limit us to seeing time moving in one direction. Some possible exceptions are light which shows no aging (via it's speed) and quantum physics ideas of anti-matter (defined as moving backwards in time).
There are very little ramifications of anything that defies your senses because you don't know what the effects are much less what action to take to make them positive.

Michael John Weaver, M.S.

Answer 3

Time.

Aristotle: Time is a measurement of change within space.

Argued alot. But the basic premis is this....

If you wish to discuss time, you need to differentiate. You have expressed in your question the idea of time all existing at once, this is a philosophical use of time and is dicussed quite alot in Metaphysics.

Time has many facets that need investigating, from the terminology used to express our time in terms of universal time eg. one o'clock. To time as in its application without human interference.

I will step out and discuss the later... Things change, if they did not, we would have no need for time, things would not get old, things would not grow, things would simply cease to do anything at all. I am not talking of how we as humans have defined 'something' as time, I am talking of the something itself.

Time is no illusion, it works on everything we see around us. All things change from one state to another, it is this movement from one state to the next that defines the act of the movement of time and hence its existence. If we wanted to, we could call this movement 'Splut' and it would not matter, it would simply be its label.

If there were no time, or 'Splut', or no way in which something were able to shift from one state to the next we would have nothing. Even light itself would stop moving, due mostly to the natural processes of Stars faultering, and that would plunge all things into darkness. The ramifacations unpon reality are easily postulated.

As for Present, Past and Future existing at once. I dare say its impossible, without 'Splut' to discern one frame of 'Splut' from another, you would again, have nothing.

Time outside of our label exists and hence, Past, Present and Future are discernable.

Are they all happening now?

Experience is the key. Do you currently experience them all at once? Can you see and participate in them all at once, right now?

I venture a no in that direction. The simply change of one state to another, even in reverse, speaks of movement across or over or through something. If it all existed at once, we would have no memories and the future would not exist. we would live forever in the moment and never change.

Nice question.

Answer 4

Time emerges from change. Everything in the universe, down to the atoms making up everything we see is in constant motion and undergoing constant change. Time advances in series of infinite 'snapshots' as all that exists transforms from one quantum state to another.

At a human level time is constructed by recording our experiences (memory) and measuring the rhythm of of them. This allows us to reflect on the past and plan and predict the future.

Answer 5

Well, you sound very profound, except the answer is right in your face. Time was created by us, one o'clock has no meaning outside of our own system of keeping track of day and night. You look into the black void of the universe and tell me that anyone other than people on earth care what time it is.

Answer 6

We are the only animals capable of understanding "tomorrow". Even our closest relatives, the chimps, cannot do that. So it must be unnatural, and therefore artificial. Or perhaps we need to evolve a little more in order to grasp it fully?

Answer 7

Time is a measurement of motion. As humans, we need this measurement to live our lives.

Try living your life without the concept of 'time'.

Answer 8

I believe it is it's own mechanism, but we may never be able to tap it from inside the mechanism itself. It'd be like trying to reprogram a game from inside the game, rather than exiting the game and programming directly from the programming itself.

Answer 9

we created time so we can keep track of our days and night. We gave the term 12:00 meaning. I think that there no such thing as now b/c as soon as you thing of it, it's gone i think there is only our past and our future. when you think about, time is ultimately useless to us but until then..

Answer 10

It is not an illusion.

How long did it take for you to read that line?

There is a standard of measurement for your actions to determine a specific length.

Like Annie has quoted from Ayn Rand, "Time is a measurement of motion."

Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant.

How long did it take for you to decide that?