What if there is no time, everything exists in the present moment and this is the fundamental principle of the universe that our scientists are still trying to understand? Time doesn't exist, and does quantum theory only confirm this? Some things are closer to you in time, some further, just like in space. But the idea that time flows around us can be as absurd as the fluidity of space.
The problem of time appeared a hundred years ago, when Einstein's special and general theories of relativity destroyed the concept of time as a universal constant. One of the consequences was that the past, present and future are not absolute. Einstein's theories also created a rift in physics because the rules of general relativity (which describe gravity and the large-scale structure of the cosmos) seem incompatible with the rules of quantum physics (which operate on the smallest scales).
According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, there is no way to define events so that they can be labeled as occurring simultaneously. The two events that are happening “now” for you will occur at different times for everyone who is moving at a different speed. Other people will see different nows, which may or may not contain elements of your now.
The result is a picture of the so-called block universe: the universe acts as a static, unchanging "block" as opposed to the traditional worldview. You can mark with all possible methods what you think is "now", but this place will not be any different from any other place, except that you are nearby. Past and future are physically different no more than left and right.
The equations of physics don't tell us what events are happening right now - it's like a map without the "you are here" symbol. The moment of the present simply does not exist in them, as well as the passage of time. In addition, Einstein's theories of relativity assume that not only is there no common present, but that all moments are equally real.
Nearly forty years ago, renowned physicist John Wheeler of Princeton and Bryce de Witt of the University of North Carolina developed an extraordinary equation that provided a possible framework for unifying relativity and quantum mechanics. But the Wheeler-DeWitt equation has always been controversial, in part because it added another obscure twist to our understanding of time.
We can say that the better we understand consciousness, the better we understand time. Consciousness is a formless invisible field of energy of endless dimensions and possibilities, the substrate of all that exists, independent of time, space, and place. It encompasses the whole existence without the limitations of time and dimension, registers all events, no matter how small they may be, up to instantaneous thought. The relationship between time and consciousness is limited by the point of view of a person, although in fact it is unlimited.
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No time
Julian Barbour's solution to the problem of time in physics and cosmology is as easy as shelling pears: there is no such thing as time.
Barbour's radicalism stems from years of searching for answers to questions from classical and quantum physics. Isaac Newton thought that time is like a river flowing at the same speed everywhere. Einstein changed this picture by combining space and time into a single four-dimensional space-time. But even Einstein was unable to define time as a measure of change. According to Barbour, the question must be turned upside down. Summoning the ghost of Parmenides, Barbour sees every single moment as whole, complete and existing on its own. He calls these moments "now".
Now Barbour can be thought of as the pages of a novel torn out of the spine and scattered in random order on the floor. Each page is a separate unit that exists outside of time and without time. Arranging pages in a specific order and moving them step by step creates a story. But regardless of the order of placement, each page will be complete and independently. As Barbour says, "A jumping cat is not the same as a falling cat." Barbour is trying to return the concept of time to Plato's ideas, when time will be unshakable, whole and absolute.
Our illusion of the past arises because each "now" contains objects that act as "records" in Barbour's language. “The only proof of the past week is your memories. But memories come from the stable structure of neurons in your real brain. The only evidence of the Earth's past that we have is rocks and fossils. But these are stable structures in the form of minerals that we are currently studying. The point is that we only have these records and they all exist "now".
Time, from this point of view, does not exist separately from the universe. There is no clock ticking outside of space. Many of us perceive time like Newton: "Absolute, true and mathematical time, by its very essence, flows evenly, regardless of anything outwardly." But Einstein proved that time is part of the fabric of the universe. Contrary to what Newton thought, our ordinary clocks do not measure anything independent of the universe.
The word "mechanics" in the term "quantum mechanics" means a machine, a predictable, workable, knowable thing. The quantum universe we live in, whether we like it or not, appears to be mechanical and linear on the surface, but it is not. It is best described as an infinite number of possible linear actions. This science could be called "quantum ecology" instead of "quantum mechanics" because it is created from within. Everything that comes out of invisibility does it like a living organism.
In quantum mechanics, all particles of matter and energy can be described as waves. Waves have an unusual property: an infinite number of waves can exist in one place. If one day it will be proved that time and space are composed of quanta, these quanta will exist, knocked together at one dimensionless point, all together.
The current prevailing paradigm in the world says that if a thing cannot be explained, detailed, analyzed and documented by linear scientific thought processes, then this is nonsense. If you have a spiritual explanation for human existence, then you are crazy from the point of view of science, you live in your little world. Scientific thinking tells us that everything in the universe can be explained either now or in the future using analytical scientific methods. Science says, in the absence of scientific evidence, this subject is not worth discussing. If you can't put it in a box with a tag, forget about it. Obviously, many see this approach as a limitation in human development. But this issue is too controversial.
The behavior of a quantum particle cannot be explained by science alone, moreover, it cannot be explained in terms that are understandable to our minds, because our mind, by its natural functions, believes that reality consists of things, things can be broken down into small components and explained in a linear mechanical style. To understand how erroneous this opinion is, it is enough to remember that we live in a relative world and interact with other conscious beings and the universe in a linear way. This is the nature of the mind. You need to go beyond it to find answers.
According to physicists, life is described by a series of slices: here you are a child, here you have breakfast today, here you are reading this article, and each slice exists motionless in its own time. We generate a stream of time because we believe that the same self who ate breakfast this morning is reading this article.
So why do we need time? Einstein, for example, presented to the timeless universe that he helped create an obituary like the consolation on the occasion of an untimely deceased friend: “Now he [friend] left this strange world a little before me. This means nothing. People like us who believe in physics know that the difference between past, present and future is just a persistent illusion."
Ilya Khel
