- #1
GladScientist
- 44
- 0
So lately, I have been thinking a lot about the concept of (a lack of) absolute time. And it has made me ask the question: are we all really immortal?
Now, here's the idea. Time is simply a dimension, with no point being absolute. Is it not then a bit silly to assume that the point marking the time "now" is somehow special? What makes "right now" any more special than the moment a small fraction of a nanosecond ago? Or the one before that?
To assume that "now" will only happen once does not make sense to me. Every moment in the universe is really eternal, just like the "one foot" mark on a meter stick doesn't disappear once you count to two feet. So why should we only experience each moment once?
The universe, even though it had a general finite beginning, has essentially existed forever because time does not exist outside of it, meaning that all possible futures and pasts have also existed forever.
So, I perceive my life as having started 17 years ago. But the moment of "now" is eternal and has really existed forever, so why am I only experiencing it during this single moment? Was the universe (which includes every Planck of time) created 17 years ago? Obviously not, since there is no time outside of the universe! This means that each moment in time always has, currently is, and always will exist. So why should we only experience it once? Shouldn't we experience it an infinite amount of times?
Therefore, I find it reasonable to believe that in some way, people live forever. Does this mean that we are really living every moment of our life at the same time and for all of eternity, but only perceive them happening spread out? Or perhaps we live our lives from birth to death, then it starts over again? While this may sound comforting, keep in mind that starving children in third world countries would have to experience being born, deserted, and left to die - over and over again for all of eternity.
So what sounds the most reasonable to you? Do you think that lives are only lived once? If so, what is your justification for following such logic?
Now, here's the idea. Time is simply a dimension, with no point being absolute. Is it not then a bit silly to assume that the point marking the time "now" is somehow special? What makes "right now" any more special than the moment a small fraction of a nanosecond ago? Or the one before that?
To assume that "now" will only happen once does not make sense to me. Every moment in the universe is really eternal, just like the "one foot" mark on a meter stick doesn't disappear once you count to two feet. So why should we only experience each moment once?
The universe, even though it had a general finite beginning, has essentially existed forever because time does not exist outside of it, meaning that all possible futures and pasts have also existed forever.
So, I perceive my life as having started 17 years ago. But the moment of "now" is eternal and has really existed forever, so why am I only experiencing it during this single moment? Was the universe (which includes every Planck of time) created 17 years ago? Obviously not, since there is no time outside of the universe! This means that each moment in time always has, currently is, and always will exist. So why should we only experience it once? Shouldn't we experience it an infinite amount of times?
Therefore, I find it reasonable to believe that in some way, people live forever. Does this mean that we are really living every moment of our life at the same time and for all of eternity, but only perceive them happening spread out? Or perhaps we live our lives from birth to death, then it starts over again? While this may sound comforting, keep in mind that starving children in third world countries would have to experience being born, deserted, and left to die - over and over again for all of eternity.
So what sounds the most reasonable to you? Do you think that lives are only lived once? If so, what is your justification for following such logic?
Last edited: