Is time just an illusion?

[TerminalMadness]

Is time just an illusion like our bodies are set to age more and more, and the sun is supposed to go down and up and down and up, but time just stays the same? Do we all live in one big illusion thinking time is passing when really we're just in the same place we were twenty years ago?

What do you think? (No, I'm not high)

[Liquid_Sky]

yup, ready for the mindfuck of a lifetime?

[Tô®n]

The world in which we perceive it to be is mealy an illusion that has been cast upon us from birth. Things that we take as certainties, would in another age and time be thought of as preposterous. A great example of this is when Alaxander Grandbell invented the telephone people asked what him what he thought this invention would be used for, he replied “Maybe people could call ahead and let someone know they are sending a telegram”. This only goes to reiterate that everything we perceive as factual today is mealy an illusion of that which has been implanted in our minds from birth. We measure time in life times, and years, and days, but do we know the existence for these things are certain, or do be believe in them mealy because the idea of them has been placed upon us since birth. Or am I just messing with your mind, j00 may never know…:p

[backtothelab]

Yeah, real mindblowing.

Is time just an illusion like our bodies are set to age more and more, and the sun is supposed to go down and up and down and up, but time just stays the same? Do we all live in one big illusion thinking time is passing when really we're just in the same place we were twenty years ago?
No.

[backtothelab]

“Maybe people could call ahead and let someone know they are sending a telegram”
Did he really say that? Because that's possibly the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

[tiki_god7]

the only time is NOW, right NOW the past is gone and the future isn't here yet the only time is right now in the present

[backtothelab]

I hate when people talk about shit like this. Stop watching the matrix, turn that shit off. There's nothing outside of what you percive. There's no robots, no organization controlling your mind, nothing is set, it just is. Christ this shit is old.

[loveflower]

^ my goodness

[TheMagicalMushy]

After watching an episode of rupert when i was young my mind has been warped permantly thinking about time. You see father time freezes time, yet rupert doesnt get frozen because hes eating a pickle covered in peanut butter which is like a loophole int he whole freezing. Father time needed a vacation. I know there isnt such a thing as father time yadda yadda yadda. I always fear that time freezes every second or so and were stuck like that for 20 years then unfrozen another second. One minute could be like 5 million years. Oh well I wouldnt notice it and that theory sounds stupider than a 5 year old trying to tell you about dinosaurs. Anyway, we are the only civilization to be able to understand time from what ive heard. Dont know how true that is.

[tiki_god7]

I hate when people talk about shit like this. There's nothing outside of what you percive.
haha you couldn't be more wrong...there is everything outside what we perceive...you just don't know it because of the strict socializationed conditions of you brain.....

[backtothelab]

haha you couldn't be more wrong...there is everything outside what we perceive...you just don't know it because of the strict socializationed conditions of you brain.....] --How do you know that there are things outside of what we perceive? If your five senses cannot perceive it, how can you be so sure about it?
--It is'nt that "trippy" or "mindblowing" like everyone thinks it is. It's no big fucking deal really. You (and every high school philosophy student under the sun) are beating a dead horse.
--Rupert kicks ass.

[TheMagicalMushy]

Time is an illusion. It is somthing for humans to explain a progression or period. Its as simple as that. Nothing complicated, nothing mind blowing. No matrix bull has to be brought into every thought.

[tiki_god7]

--How do you know that there are things outside of what we perceive? If your five senses cannot perceive it, how can you be so sure about it?
just because our 5 senses can't sense it now doesn't mean they can't. socializatoin has taught you to tune out the vast majority of our perceptions because they are not adventagous to our survival. Think of perception as a water facet, when we are born it is going full blast, perceptions flooding our brain...as we grow older the faucet gets slowed down to a trickle and all the other perceptions are blocked out because they aren't required to survive, that doesn't mean they still can't be accessed though. I'm not talking highschool philosophy, I'm talking psychology....three credited harvard professors have written on it along with many other people....if you're still in doubt check out these authors: Ralph Metzner PhD Richard Alper PhD (aka ram dass), Timothy Leary PhD, Terrence and Dennis Mkenna, Carlos Castaneda, and Aldous Huxley, I'm sure they will provide you with more then enough evidence that suggests that reality is FAR greater then just what we perceive.

[Emsee Squared]

Time is an illusion. It is somthing for humans to explain a progression or period. Its as simple as that. Nothing complicated, nothing mind blowing. No matrix bull has to be brought into every thought.

I agree and disagree with TheMagicalMushy. Time is definately "somthing for humans to explain a progression or period" but is also a substance, mathematically speaking.

If TheMagicalMushy is referring to time in a way that makes time look like a simple measurement ie. "progression or period" then he is correct. It is an illusion. A man made reference to a point that has or will occur. However, I look at time in a different perspective. Time, to some, is no more material than distance or length.

I see time as more than that. I put time in the same class as empty space, light or energy. Time has been seen to alter and change when certain experiments involving special relativity are performed. Due to these changes that are observed, I see time as an 'object' rather than an illusion.

[peacefulwind14]

There is A LOT to life and the universe that the five senses cant percieve.

[Nalencer]

ever heard of maya? it means "the illusion'. the theory of maya is based around the fact that what we see is an illusion and that it is blocking us from what is truly real. quite possible, and im personally a believer in maya.

[JohnnyX]

the only time is NOW, right NOW the past is gone and the future isn't here yet the only time is right now in the present
this is the true reality!

[JohnnyX]

I hate when people talk about shit like this. Stop watching the matrix, turn that shit off. There's nothing outside of what you percive. There's no robots, no organization controlling your mind, nothing is set, it just is. Christ this shit is old.
It is old. Older than you can possibly imagine, no go back to the lab and study some physics!:H

[loveflower]

It is old. Older than you can possibly imagine, no go back to the lab and study some physics!:H
lol that was too funny

[Battery]

Time isn't an illusion, it simply doesn't exist at all. The universe is timeless, and time is something humans made up. And the physicality of a timeless world is a concept humans cannot understand, because our only point of reference is what we percieve around us.

[Dustystar]

Everything in the universe is precieved basically. Their is no reality. What u precieve is ur truth end of story. This concept doesn't just apply to time, it applies to all things.

[tiki_god7]

space and time go hand in hand you can't have one without the other

[Marla1313]

I recommend you read Einsteins Dreams by Alan Lightman. Very good book about different theories of time put into 'story' form and easy reading :)

[We_All_Shine_On]

you are just screaming to join my philosophy class lol

[EverythingZen]

Personally i dont like time. I dont think a duck will ever care what time it is, nor will a polar bear. they dont really know wut time is, mostly because we invented it and they didnt. Sometimes i wonder if a snail goin down the sidewalk at all of 3 inches per hour says to itself 'this is gonna take all damn day!' i dont think it really cares

So is time an illusion: yes, and completely unique to us on top of it. I think the idea of time may b responsible for the undieing question 'when did it all begin?' and its annoying little sister 'When will it end?'

time is nothing more then a measurment of 'how long', the idea of 'how long' automatically limits everything: the man was 5 foot 6 inches tall, he lived 72 years.. take away the measurements: the man stood up straight and lived. still completely true, but humans would never b satisfied with that.

now lets put measurement to the universe: the universe is ____ cu.ft. large and has existed ____ years- wait i forgot the universe extends infinitly in both directions, therefore measurement cannot b applied. so in the grand sceme of eternity, time is nothing more then something humans made up to get to work on time.

p.s. im sorry if theis doesnt make sense, my mom is blasting the tv i can hardly hear myself think!, my point is though that time is a measurement, and untill we die we will all be limited by, only at death will we become eternal, and no longer care 'how long '

[JohnnyX]

I do agree with most of you on the abstract concept of time, yet, we must understand that there is a linear aspect as well. Time is a property. It is a dimention of the world and the universe around us. I also like to toy with the idea of time as a human tool and invention. But the linear aspect of time is as much of a factor on our minds and bodies as gravity and friction and wind resistance. The only way you can EVER escape it is by living in the present where time is irrelevant. Percieving the present. Doing within the present. Being in the present. I could keep going off track here but my original point I was going to make is that if you do not believe in time then you logically would also not believe in the beauty of a falling leaf or the rising and setting of the sun. You would also not believe in aging or living and dying. Time is a part of the universe. How about time travel???? Perhaps the present is the loophole to just such an ability. I dunno. What do you think?

[crackforkids]

time is real. and definate. it doesnt stop.
people just trip out to hard and start to "realize things" and then they wanna question everything. i've been where time is not. but my body stayed in this world for about an hour. even though i wasnt aware of time. it was still going on.

[MattInVegas]

To get the TRUE answer to this question, one must smoke a bowl, and put on "Moody Blues" "Knights In White Satin".

[JohnnyX]

"some say time goes and we stay but alas WE go...TIME stays."

[Razor Face]

This was an interesting thread. :)
Thanks all, for posting!

[gointocalifornia]

[QUOTE=backtothelab]--How do you know that there are things outside of what we perceive? If your five senses cannot perceive it, how can you be so sure about it?
QUOTE]

how about this. there's worms that can only see in the 2nd dimension...the 3rd dimension does not exist to them.... yet our minds can comprehend in 3D.

so there are things in this world that cannot be perceived by our simple minds.

[MattInVegas]

This was an interesting thread. :)
Thanks all, for posting!
HOPE ya get an A+!!!
And, I hope ya learned a few things!

[FriendOfTheDevil]

Yeah, they whole concept of time as an illusion has been beaten to death, but I think that it is ignorant to think that there are no good thoughts that might come from it. I think time is obviously real because we're experiancing it here and now. I really don't think that it's just an illusion or some dream because that's just overintellectualization. If we're just dreaming it, then we have to exist in some type of world. And if we exist there is time.
Now...how time flows, or how we percieve time, I really can't say. The real problem here is the whole beginning and end issue. it seems like the only way we can describe it..is like a mobius strip: just one side. Or the number line. How positive infinity is equal to negative infinity. So, the largest a number can possibly get is the smallest it can possibly get. SO the big conclusion on the whole thing seems to be, that there no fucking way for us to really describe it.
I think it's definately clear that there is more to our perception than just the five senses. This is all opinion, but we've felt other people's souls, auras, feelings, moods, thoughts, or whatever. That is not something technically sensed, but you can definately feel it. And I hate to bring science into the whole thing, because it's almost always theory and never really proven but anyways...Supposedly, we've already proven the existance of other universes. Through a light photon experiment (I'll dig up the details if someone really wants) But a single photon "uninfluenced" always hits the same spot it would if it were a set of multiple photons, which means the original photon isn't influenced here but in another universe parallel to ours. (We've even supposedly "teleported" objects in the multiverse. Sounds a little too conspiracy theory to me but...) Anyways, I mean if the other universes are always impacting eachother, aren't there constant time we can sense things not really in a our perception. (this all assuming that this theory is true, actually gives proof, and my thoughts are somewhat comprehensible.)

[enzyme]

First... seems to me that trying to figure out time is more of a Western scientific approach right, so not all cultures would attempt to discuss, which is just as valid right? Also, us with our scientific educations try to define all laws of the universe, categorize everything into a nice neat branch of knowledge, but the fact that WE AS HUMANS are a part of the universe (came from same beginning (big bang?), same elements,molecules) not seperate from it, how can we objectively find the answer, we are a part of the puzzle. We cant put the universe/earth/time in our hands and look at it.

With that said, how can we figure out anything outside of our consciousness, we are conscious beings (we are aware of ourselves and question things) and time is an internal mechanism that exists in our brains/consciousness, it doesnt exist outside of us and i guess that nothing in the material world exists if we dont exist ("if a tree falls and no one is there does anyone hear" type deal). So everything is an illusion on that basis, including time right?

But the fact that we clearly exist, because i do, then time exists and is not an illusion, we get older, a new day comes and the universe expands, old stars burn out and new ones are formed..like somebody said, time doesnt exist without space, time-space continuum (if i could only grasp that beast!)

So its funny, a bit of a conundrum, time is an illusion because everthing is an illusion (its only here if we perceive it) but time isnt an illusion because we are here and are real ( I think therefor I am ??). Just goes to show you that nothing is black and white and you cant figure everthing out with just science, you need all knowledge, knowledge is one.

Not to mention that "real", "exist", "illusion" are just words in our language and we can only figure out things as far as our language will take us, we're intelligent humans yet ignorant animals...thats as far as i can figure things out.