Is time real or an illusion?

Neither space nor time existed before the big bang. The three dimensions of space began from the big bang and have expanded since then at the speed of light. Thus nothing of the universe exists beyond that expanding wavefront, not even space itself. If the universe is four dimensional space-time, and if space began to expand from the big bang at the speed of light, maybe time also began to expand at the speed of light in a similar way. But there must be a difference between the space dimensions and the time dimension: we sit where we are in space, but we appear to be carried along at the expanding wavefront of time. There are some interesting consequences of this hypothesis. First, it explains the arrow of time as the expansion of the universe. Second, time travel to the future is impossible because the future does not exist. Third, time travel to the past is also impossible because it would be necessary to move backward in time at the speed of light just to stand still, and then to exceed light speed to go backwards. Fourth, mass cannot function in the time dimension or we could not be travelling through time at the speed of light. And fifth, there is an insight into time dilation: if the time dimension is orthogonal to the space dimensions, it follows that as an object approaches the speed of light in a space dimension its speed through time must reduce. Otherwise, its resultant speed would exceed light speed.

I am no expert or mathematician, but I have lived and have observed.  I believe time is definitely man created. It was created by observations made relative to movement.  Just as everything is energy in its basic form, everything vibrates at a certain speed.  This speed of vibration is heavily dependant on the size and density of the mass, among other factors.  This would explain why time would be different in space.  We are limited by our bodies and environment to a pre-determined rate of vibration.  Hence our perception of causal events which we classify as time.  It is not possible for us to travel in time due to these very same limitations.  We would have to be pure energy to break these limitations.  This wwould also mean God would have to be pure energy.  I know the word God and science don't necessarily go together in traditional scientific thinking, but they don't have to be mutually exclusive.  The abscence of including God means everything happens randomly and without order.  This does not seem to be practical or logical.  By this thought process, it would also mean our souls are in fact pure energy and would therefore be immortal and not bound by time.Human beings, the earth and all therein are connected and every action causes a domino effect somewhere down the line. 

Well time is how we perceive and understand changes that occur in our surroundings in a logical, ordered structure. We order these changes starting with the most recent and then to the least recent changes which form a map of changes as we experience them which form our memory. As we progress through time we constantly add to this memory in the same logical, ordered structure. If there were no changes to observe then there is no need for time. The same holds for if there is nothing that can observe these changes there is no need for time. Light carries information that allows us to perceive these changes visually. If there is nothing that can observe these changes then there is no need for the information that is carried by light. Same thing can be said of the reverse. Sound is the same way. If you were to shout in a forest and there is nothing to observe the shout then you never really shouted. We are the only living being on this entire planet (and as far as we can tell, universe) that can observe these changes in a logical sense. If we are the destination of this information then what is the source of all this information?

Information increases because we keep track of past changes that occured using words (verbally or written) and we do so in the reverse logical, ordered structure (least recent to most recent - past to present) which form our history. We use these past sequence of changes (events) in order to help us make sense of the present world. We also use them to try and predict future events. Physics is our understanding of how the physical world changes that has been formed from previous perceptions and interpretations of change. We understand when a change occurs in the universe it does so in the exact same way everytime. It is constant which is why we can use logical, ordered structures (mathematics) to explain and predict these physical changes. These changes are the same from one observer to the next (if a star blows up and 100 observers were watching them they will all see a star blowing up in exactly the same logical, ordered structure and it will come into their memory the same way).

Our brains decide which events (logically, ordered sequences of changes) will be stored into our long term memory and which ones will not. That becomes different between each observer and how they interpret the information will be different as well. Basically the universe changes in a consistent and predictive manner but it is how we interpret the changes and even store them in memory that changes. Another thing is that one observer can witness a change that another observer does not which also changes the content of their memory and how they will interpret future events.

Reality is our own perception and interpretation of physical changes which can be different from the way other observers perceive and interpret these changes. Because of this time can appear to be slower or faster from one observer to another because they are perceiving and interpreting the changes differently. This also explains why you don't realize physical time when you are asleep or in a coma as your mind becomes disconnected teporarily from the physical world. The constantly changing universe is how we keep track of time.

On top of that one observer can invoke changes on another observer by means of the physical world. We inspire changes in our physical world through our minds first (thoughts, ideas, etc...) and we make a decision to invoke these changes into the physical world (actions) which an observer can perceive and interpret uniquely. Our character is defined as how we choose to manifest our thoughts into the physical world as sequences of changes (events). This is usully based on our own perception and interpretation of past events or lack thereof.

Our physical world changes in a constant manner that is predictive. It is apparent we are all meant to witness the same messages. It is us who perceive and interpret the messages differently. That is the non-constant in the equation.

Many people may not believe in God but in the beginning God said let there be light. He spoke it and when you speak something you have a destination in mind to hear your words. We are the destination (observer) and he is the source of the information. How we interpret and store the information may differ but we all see the same message.

I dont have any mathematical prowess. I admire those that do. But I think about things alot.

Time is one of them. I think the answer to what time is or isn't will be the final brick in an complete and understandable cosmology construct. I feel that thinking about time as a independant component of any scientific model is a mistake, though. It is a red herring of sorts, because of causation. Understanding cause and effect need not include the concept of time, we only insert it as a way to identify provenance, that is to say define the mechanics of force, etc. If we could make a cosmological model without time in it, but still allow entropy, I believe we would be much closer to the prize. Please excuse my pitiful opinion if it is appears ridiculous; I cannot express universals mathematically, so I have to use words. For me, the problems isn't that something is missing in physical models, rather,it is that we are interjecting a purely subjective component, that is to say a human perception of time, into the equation.

Time isn't an illusion, but it's not a "dimension" either.  The Second Law of Thermodynamics requires that  entropy increase over time.  Claude Shannon showed that entropy and information are equivalent.  So the amount of information in the universe is increasing over time.  Our brains perceive this increase in information as "time."  There is more information now than in the past, and we don't yet have information about the future.  That's it.

The mistake is to view time as a dimension we "travel" through, like space.  It is not.  Kurt Godel designed a space-time geometry using the field equations of General Relativity where time loops back on itself.  This is meaningless, and it violates causation.  Since GR is based on causation and the GR field equations violate causation, the GR interpretation of time causes a contradiction and it therefore must be wrong. 

Minkowski 3+1 space-time is useful as an engineering model, but it's not reality.  In fact, no classical theory comes close to explaining reality, whereas quantum physics does.  Experiments using Bell's inequality show that quantum phyics is real and classical theory is not.  The universe is made out of information, and information is constantly increasing.  Time is our perception of this increase.  On the quantum level, time doesn't exist, but on the macroscopic level it does.

ITS REAL, its the thing that stops everything from happening all at once.

Yes,  

Physics depend on time's existance. Without it there would be no movement of atoms, heat energy, speed or acceleration.
time exists and is as real a property of the universe as gravity.

For an experiential view of the illusory nature of time, see these short Youtubes in the video series "Time Out!":
www.Youtube.com/PeterDziuban

we know time exists but the real question is: WHAT IS IT??? try answering this

time is real because your not dead yet.

Physical time is run of clocks in a timeless space.
"Past-present-future" is a mind frame through which we experience run of clocks and all other material change in timeless space.
see more in my article here
http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PHESEM000023000002000330000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no

Yours Sincerely, Amrit Sorli

Time is made up. It is only perceived from three key aspects. Realization, Consciousness, and Motion. We only use time as a measurement. If you see it is seven o' clock and later see its nine o' clock, did two hours pass by? Or did you render the realization of consciousness and motion. For instance, if a man has a coma for two years and wakes up; you can tell him that he was in a coma for two days and he would probably believe you. This is because he did not render Realization, Consciousness and Motion because he was in a coma.

Time exists for us because we understand that there is a imminent end to all things.
Being conscious of this forces us to use, live and think around time, I feel. 8) (what was we on about?) lol
( YES. As i use a hammer to build the house, i use time to choose when best to do it.) Both tools of human consciousness.

surely time is just a label so that we can communicate our interpretation of something that is, was, or is going to happen in the physical world. The label of time is just an expression so that we as a race can communicate effectively. things will happen in the physical universe regardless of whether the human race exists in it or not, the only difference is that humans will label these events and place them into the order in which they occurred and to make these events easier to catalogue and place the label of time was created as a point or points of reference so that people could say...."oh yes i have dentist next Wednesday" .....The word and by assocciation the concept of time is really just a label so that any person can relate a sequence of events or future events to another person in a logical way.

Time exists because we use it...It was invented. But Does the Universe have an Awareness Of Time. To Suggest that Time is Real is to also suggest that there are larger things at work in Creation... Imagine this Paradox.. Your dreaming a dream of the future but you dont know its the future until you witness it coming true, but you realised that the dream you were having was of someones future and you were just remotely viewing it through the dream... You notice the Dream is happening for real, and you know its that person and not you.. If you stood infront of the person and send yourself a message so you could change something in the past, would you be able to allow the dream to come true... Time does not seem to have rules, What if traveling through time requires the understanding that time has no boundries and thus the past present and furture exist as one... Im confusing you i know, but if I told you staight out you would not be able to find the conlusion for these words by your own experince.... Time exists because someone invented it... But does the Universe Know Time Exists.

sorry for my poor english,,, but when you get hungry, in every second you feel a harder pian in your stomach, and you will fear about the 2 minutes later,,, and that easy you will belive in Time and future,,,

Events exist and create a perception of "time" passing.
eliminate the event, and the perception of "time" passing becomes irrelevant. It becomes forever present.
"no time like the present" Maybe that means more that we know.

Surely we only know we exist because time itself also exists. But actually only the present exists, and only as we experience it, and so reference to time can only be made by way of experience. If nothing sentinent were around to experience time then it wouldn't exist. It's a bit like the question: if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it does it make a noise? Except in the case of time then no, time does not exist if its flow through a continual present is not experienced by reference to a future-present-past continuum. Um...

I was just sitting here thinking about this when I blogged and strangely, I come on to this site and what do I find? I doubt coincidence.

My blog on this topic:

http://jonspade.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-lighter-note.html

Time is not an illusion. Space and time are a single continuum. One cannot exist without the other. Time travels at different speeds depending on where you go in the universe. I used to think of time as being just a concept but it is actually more of a physical dimension that actually exists. If einstein said it, it must be true!

I can't believe scientist are wasting their time with this. If time is an illusion, what a coincidence that time seems to predict the suns pattern, as well as all of astrology. The only illusion of time is the way we perceive it... ie. seconds, minutes etc. Those all being man-made measurements of what we refer to as time. If time is an illusion then so is speed. Is speed an illusion to now? Are we not traveling through space, rather space is travelling to us? Come on, sometimes I think scientists are a bunch of kids tripping on acid.

I beleive that time is simply movement, or at least time as we know it is simply movement. by guaging something moving and thereby changing we aver that time is passing'.

Consider if everything remained at absolute zero and so not even an electron is moving, if we can not see any change we can not perceive time as moving at all, and then surely time as well as everything else is quite figuratively standing still.

Considering passage of time as a measure of movement rather than a psychological phenomenon takes time away from being simply a man-made construct/experience to a physical phenomenon.

CN

Hmmmm, I understood the question but I got lost on that answer!

To me, time is a man-made concept invented to give understanding to the 'then, now and future' of his existence. Without mankind, I think it is safe to say there would be no time as it would not have been invented. I further believe that outside of this planet and away from the influence of mankind, time really does not exist at all.

To us, the parameter that we have chosen to describe how fast we think light travels equals the limit of understanding our invented concept of time and distance.

In reality, assuming that man had never been invented, these parameters and limits would not actually exist.

But he was and he invented such parameters and limits to try, perhaps rather badly, to explain and understand what he sees about him.

Food for thought?