“Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of time and is forgotten through the lapse of it.”
- Aristotle
It all began with the Big Bang, or at least that is what we believe it to be. Centuries ago, Man was no different than a primal lurking for the bits of survival. With nothing but our wits and instincts, we survived and evolved. However, we are not much different than the very creation we domesticize and cultivate upon; in the sense that we are but a flick in the relative passage of time. Time was, and will always be, our Alpha and our Omega.
What is Time? Are we capable of the interpretations? Should we even try?
To understand the process, we must first define our tools. Thus, looking at the definition of Time below:
“Time is the indefinite continued process of existence and events that occur in, an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future.”
We can infer from the very definition of the stoic nature of Time and the tools we need to achieve a deeper understanding of it. It is neither a phenomenon nor a being. Time is indefinite, in the context that infinity in itself, is a hypothetical state. “Infinity” is a relative comparison of parameters, irrespective of their actual limits.
Consider an ant walking on a stretched wire. The ant’s vision will converge at infinity, which relative to humans, might be a measurable distance. At the core, dimensionality allows us to relate the measurement of distance with the measurement of time. To understand time, we must understand relativity. However, relativity is not the only tool that we need.
We now tread towards the nature of processes themselves. Thus, it becomes necessary for us to discuss the elephant in the room. However, on the context of defining our Universe as the grand system, “Gravity” is the action, “Chaos” is the algorithm and “Time” is undeniably the reaction. Due to the uneven distribution of masses throughout our system, a chaotic attribute is generated and appended to it. This chaos follows an effect-based relation, where the inferred result is time.
“Chaos is the property of a complex system whose behaviour is so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions.”
It is an essential property of a system, thereby making it either definitive or absolute nonsense. Chaos breeds uncertainty, which we tackle using the very idea of combinatorics and probability. Irrespective of our methods, the absolute effects can be perceived only if all the causes were to be documented, regardless of how trivial they could be.
We have defined the process and the property. However, as per Newton’s First Law of Inertia, any and every system is incomplete without a Cause. One whose nature is uncertain in a dynamic sense.
“Gravity is most accurately described by the General Theory of Relativity, which describes gravity not as a force, but as a consequence of the curvature of space-time caused by the uneven distribution of mass.”
Gravity is, without a doubt, a phenomenon. However, when perceived with respect to Time, Gravity plays the role of a cause. To understand how Gravity is uncertain and dynamic, consider a thought experiment where we have a trampoline of the size of a stadium, and a diameter drawn on it. Now, we place a marble at the circumference of this trampoline. This forces the diameter to warp for our reality, although minutely. However, in actuality, the diameter is a straight line. Next, we place a bowling ball on the trampoline, such that it is as further away from the marble as possible. Irrespective of what we do, we cannot stop the bowling ball from affecting the marble, and vice versa.
Now, imagine the above thought experiment on a universal scale with indefinite heavenly objects. Magnanimous, isn’t it? Thus, to find a certain truth, we will have to consider the effects of every object in the Universe.
Now that we have a firm definition of what our tools are, we graduate these into a proper system.
When comparing to our thought experiment, time is the diameter. Due to an insurmountable number of objects placed on the trampoline, it is too chaotic for us to extrapolate and predict the warp of diameter. This time, the difference is that we aren’t perceiving the trampoline from above. Instead, the trampoline itself is our reality, and we perceive it by existing on it!
Relative to our lifespan, Time seems cosmic. We can assume that the relative nature of time is a product of our Universe’s dynamic assets. It guides us to presume that time is an effect available only to objects that are in motion. At a grand scale, we can neither deny nor accept this statement.
Our reality is a system in motion. Our planet, our galaxy and our Universe are in constant motion. Perhaps, this motion is what gives us a sense of relativity. It begs us the question, “How is this Chaotic Universe so intricately tuned?”
Perhaps our Universe is at a steady state. We may never reach the Omega. The final cessation of all dimensions, as we know it, might be just a hypothesis.
Feasibly, Time is not so different from us. Time came into existence due to a chaotic algorithm, is delicately tuned to be steady, and will cease to exist at cessation. For all we know, we might be fabricating time itself.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
