Time?
What is time? - don't look at your watches!
I'm going to try and go a little deeper than that!!
Was time invented or
is it that it just is?
time seems like a force of nature
"to every season - turn turn"
And a time for everything...!
Right?
But it wasn't always that way.
If we look at the mid to late 19th century something happened
We invented railways for instance
trains began to run
A member of the house of Lords jumped on a train in London in the early morning
went down to Exeter on the newly opened Bristol to Exeter railway
and then returned to London for supper the same day!
This was unheard of
so if people were to catch a train
they needed to know when it would depart
people had to create the concept of time as we know it now
So, Yes
time – or our modern conception of time was invented.
Most of us are into time at a much lower level.
Some of us see time as
"Have I got time to have another pint before the wife realizes I'm in the pub?"
Douglas Adams
he of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" wrote
"Time is an illusion - lunchtime doubly so!" Lol
I tend to agree!
Time for most of us is the reality of the daily grind
the train in the morning
the train we have to get up for
to go to work
time is being woken at a god-awful time
by a god-awful time-piece
so as we can get to that god-awful job
on time!
Time is the 60 seconds to grab breakfast
it's 30 seconds to grab a coffee mid-morning...
and yes - lunchtime does fly by! (If we get one at all!)
Time to many is
"you can only leave your car here for for 1 hour and you can't return before another hour has passed!" Why is that?
One of the biggest wants in regard to time - I believe
is time travel.
There can't be anyone here who hasn't at some point in their lives had the thought
"I wish I could go back in time and try that again!"
or
"I wish I could fast-forward this boring meeting!"
We'd all love time-travel wouldn't we?
What about the question
"Can time go backwards?"
Apparently,
traveling backwards in time is much harder
yet, mathematics says it is possible!
So time to us is more basic than what the scientists say.
Scientifically in physics
time is defined as
"the measure of a change in a physical quantity
or a magnitude
used to quantify the duration of events" - I think I get that
Things change and time measures the duration of that change
or on other words
you get paid at the end of the month
and rapidly (over the next few weeks)
you get poorer
and poorer!
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an American theoretical cosmologist
and particle physicist
I can't even get her name and title right!
at the University of New Hampshire.
She says:
"According to Einstein's general theory of relativity,
space and time are tied together,
and space-time can bend and curve. The way to think about it is that that curvature is stretching out time."
Stay with me!
So true time is actually much more flexible than most people realize - try telling that to the traffic warden who's writing you out a ticket cos you stayed longer than an hour!
Time has promoted many sayings
- Time is money.
- Time waits for no man
- Better three hours too soon than a minute too late
- Lost time is never found
etc etc.
You've heard them.
Time is limited
My time here in front of you is limited
My time reading this (or listening, depending on how you are consuming my work) - doubly so!
For all of us
that god-awful alarm clock is ticking - unless yours is digital
Either way - our time is limited
So, I hope my aim of confusing you even more about the the subject of time has come to pass
I thank you for your time,
listening to me (or reading this piece)
and I hope it hasn't been a waste of your time
That's interesting isn't it!? Someone came up with the thought that time is so precious,
we mustn't waste it
like water in a drought
food in a famine
coins,
hard earnt money
falling through a hole in your pocket...
So - next time you look at your watch
or stare at a clock
or rush to catch that train
Remember these words:
"Time is an illusion - lunchtime doubly so!"
Thank you for your time!
