Why Time Does Not Exist
It is only an infinitely Personal Perception
Once upon a time, I wanted to write about time. But I didn’t have enough time. Even though I had plenty of it. You can have a lot of time but lack the essential: quality time. Rich in the most valuable resource but poor in not knowing how to use it effectively.
And it is with a better-organized life that I can finally try to do my best on one of the subjects that has fascinated humanity since its beginnings.
My starting point was to be that of a physicist, which I am not. To tell you about some interesting experiments. About how atomic clocks can go out of sync and how these findings could confuse some Cartesian minds.
I could have told you about those experiences that make us feel time differently over the course of a lifetime. The older we get, the more we feel that time is passing quickly. It is not time that has changed, but our relationship to it.
But I am not a physicist or a scientist. Just a philosopher. Better, because it allows us to dream a little and interpret our realities with more latitude.
It all starts with an observation. In my middle school classroom. Those three hours of language class that seem endless. Every five minutes is torture. I stare intently at this giant clock on the wall. The hands seem frozen. Did that teacher have the magical power to bend space-time with the boredom her class induced? Maybe.
Paradoxically, those three endless hours of language class were followed by three hours of sports. Like a fish in my aquarium, why did those three hours of exercise seem to fly by so quickly?
Just before, I was dying in endless torment, and just after, in the blink of an eye, those three hours of exercise felt like thirty minutes.
What kind of sorcery is this?
I used to think that time was a fixed, stable measure. That a second would always be a second. That an hour would always be an hour. That this measure of time will pass in the same way throughout my entire life.
These childhood reflections were of little importance until adulthood struck me. And I realized that we are literally the architects of our own space-time.
Not limited to three hours of classes that we love or hate, but limited to our entire lives. We are, everyday, building the bricks of our future temporal environment. But before that, a little reflection.
Two souls.
One is joyful. Everything goes well for him. Every day seems to be a new adventure. He is happyy. Full of joy at everything that fate has to offer him.
The other is suffering. Sick. Every day is filled with pain. Every breath is a struggle. The weight of existence weighs heavily on his shoulders. Every day is a reminder of what he has lost: his health.
For each of them, five years pass in this state. For the first, these five years seemed to fly by. For the second, these five years were purgatory.
Question: Did they each live five years? If we measured their perception of time, how much difference would we find? Would the first have felt like he had lived only one year? The second, two decades.
From there, we could open up reflections to infinite paths and sub-questions. Such as: is their aging process the same? One being constantly stressed by his situation, with a heart beating much faster. The other being totally relaxed, with a heart rate well below average. They lived five years, but their physiological and psychological ages are different.
Let’s stay focused, because the subject is already too broad to explore too many sub-routes. But with this reflection, I want to make you aware that the situations we find ourselves in have a crucial impact on our perception of time, but also on the life we lead.
Our society lacks intentionality. The vast majority of people let their daily lives unfold without being in control. They let themselves be guided by algorithms that decide everything for them. What they will eat, what they will buy, what they will watch, and now even who they will love.
And they are surprised that the result is a life we end up hating, a prison in which we endure space and time. It’s as if we were stuck forever in that class we hated so much.
From here on, I want to convey the idea that we have the power. Thousands of futures exist for us. We have the power to meet them or to distance ourselves from them. Each single day. Let’s simplify.
Imagine that you want to lose ten kilos in the year 2026. There is a timeline for achieving this goal. There are also infinite timelines where you could lose more than ten kilos. Or less. Or none at all. Or even gain weight.
How do you get from point A in time to point Z in time? Our problem is that we don’t understand the mathematics of life. We do random things at an irregular pace, whereas to achieve a complex goal, we need to live our lives at a perfect tempo.
Ninety percent of people will start a diet or go to the gym for three weeks starting on January 1st and then fall back into their old ways because they don’t see quick results.
It’s not their motivation that’s lacking, but their method. (I’ll simplify it as much as possible. Of course, there are nuances.)
If you want to lose 10 kg, that’s 77,000 calories. You’ll need to calculate your metabolism to know exactly how many calories your body needs to function each day.
Then choose a method: diet. My body needs 2,500 calories per day. I only eat 2,000. It will take me 154 days to create a deficit of 77,000 calories.
Another method could be to always eat 2,500 calories per day but burn an additional 500 (i.e., an hour and a half of exercise per day).
Or a hybrid method… The idea is: mathematically, we can create the desired timelines with repeated actions.
If it’s that simple, why do so few people manage to achieve their goals?
The main reason is poor math in creating their desired timeline.
They want to lose ten kg and give themselves too little time to do so. The craziest ones say to themselves: why not try to burn 1,000 calories a day? The daily workload is too heavy. They give up quickly.
Conversely, some want to lose ten pounds, but the daily workload is too light. The process is infinitely slow. They give up due to lack of results.
Between these two extremes, there can be a whole host of other miscalculations. (Such as always eating too much.) This leaves room for the creation of a timeline that will never happen due to a lack of rigor in our plan, or a lack of knowledge.
I used the example of weight loss because it is the easiest to illustrate mathematically.
But literally ALL of our goals can be achieved through sustained effort over time with the right plan.
Our world is a finite world. Based on mathematics so that everything does not collapse into chaos. Energies are exchanged. Every result has a cause.
And often, if you don’t get the result you hoped for, it’s because you didn’t pay the price. That’s the brutal reality of a world where mathematics cannot be cheated.
We can blame the heavens, others, the divine, but unfortunately, in an infinite number of things that are within our control, we are responsible for our failures.
The complex alchemy lies in finding the right level of effort so that we can reach our destination neither too quickly nor too slowly. It’s about preparing a path that will not be impossible to survive on a daily basis.
The hells we create for ourselves are the result of past decisions. The paradises we create for ourselves are also the result of these decisions.
At a time when everyone is preparing new resolutions, I am trying to convince you that no future is too far away from you. But that it will require scientific precision in the architecture of your daily life.
There is nothing wrong with being dreamers as long as those dreams are built on bridges constructed in reality.
You can do anything, as long as you are able to stay on track with the price you are willing to pay every day.
Everyone has paths that can lead you to them. But are you ready to survive those paths?
If so, your future may be one that has the power to bend space-time positively. By living a happy life, desired and chosen, in the environment you have always dreamed of.
Or you may also live a life you did not want. Suffered. Unhappy. Painful. And which seems infinitely unbearable.
If you are ready to take responsibility and take the actions that will lead you to your desired future, you will realize that you are not just a human being.
You are a magician with the power to create timelines and bend space-time. Capable of building or destroying his life as he sees fit. Capable of living the most unique or the most generic life. Able to manipulate and influence your perception of time. All of this, as a result of his efforts.
Maybe you want to change. Really change. Not like all those years when you said to yourself, “This time, it’s for real.”
The ball is in your court, my friend. No dream is too big. No reality is unattainable. But grab your notebook and make a rock solid plan.
This could be the year that finally changes everything. If you choose to become the master of your life and no longer its slave.
With love.