Cosmologic philosophy: what is time (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, January 19, 2017, 13:35 (2865 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID’S comment: [...] Time is a linear series of 'nows'. In relativity theory everything is in motion and changing. The 'nows' document that constant changing reality and are a construct of our conscious recognition to the change. Our consciousness, therefore, creates time as a concept. Time materially does not exist. Change exists and is constantly happening. God exists outside time, and our consciousness may well come from outside time.

dhw: [...] You can’t have change without a before and an after, and as far as I am concerned, time is indeed a linear series of ‘nows’, that is to say a now that becomes a ‘then’, or a present that becomes a past. The words to describe the concept, and the various divisions we make, are certainly a human invention, but it is my firm belief that changes took place even before humans were around, i.e. that the history of the universe and life really have taken place, and that before, now and after represent a sequence that goes on even without our consciousness of them. In other words, time materially does exist if you accept this definition. I don’t know what you mean by “God exists outside time”. If your God created the universe and life and evolution, you cannot escape the same sequence. This whole argument is a game, and it depends on definition. If you really and truly reject the sequence of before, now and after, please give me your own definition of time.

DAVID: Of course there is a sequence of before, now and after. That is understood. If God is eternal, He exists out of any time concept. Time begins as the universe starts, without question. We study and find the before sequences of events in time leading to us, even if we did not personally experience those events.

You accept that time exists as a sequence of before, now and after, and nobody has a clue what happened before the big bang (if the big bang happened), but if there was a before the big bang, you still have a sequence of before and after. If there is a God who caused the big bang, he must have existed before he caused it, and unless he had been totally inactive throughout eternity until then, he may well have created other causes and effects, or befores and afters. In any case, how can he make the changes from non-universe and non-life to universe and life without being “inside” time – unless you reject my before-and-after definition? All of this, as well as your own last sentence, clearly shows that time is NOT a human construct which is “all in our minds”, so why do I get the impression that you are trying to disagree with me?!