Time Might Be Nothing but an Illusion

On the concept of time from three different perspectives: Physical, biological, and neurological

Lenka Otap
Predict

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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Time is one of my absolute favorite topics. We talk about time every day like it’s something we all know so well. And we do … but then we don’t. Because:

What is time really?

There is no final or objective answer to the question. It depends on the context, and even within a specific context such as physics, time is still not readily definable.

We can view time as a concept from three different perspectives:

  • Physical time
  • Biological time
  • Neurological time

Physical time ⏱

Even in the physical perspective, we can still find many definitions of time. There is the time that we measure with clocks, there is time as part of the fabric of the universe (spacetime) as described in Einstein's relativity theory, and lastly, there is the time that governs the evolution of a quantum system.

And then there is the conflict of the role of time in the latter two: The relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Scientists are still working on trying to connect those two understandings of time.

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Lenka Otap
Predict

Computer scientist and astrophysicist. Curious about life, the universe, and everything.