Get Learnt

So what do you think of when you think of "time"?
If you're the average person, you'd probably think of a clock or calendar because, well, that's what we use to measure time; as we have for thousands of years. The concept of time and our understanding of it has been a major driving force behind the success of mankind. So major, that we invented a machine capable of recording and tracking time: the clock. We use time as both a means of measurement and organization that without, we cannot properly function or advance. But our understanding of this concept we call "time" is far from it's true nature. While we've found ways to count and record it, time exists on a much more integrated level. When we think of the past, present, and future, most people think of them as being 3 separate entities that we experience linearly. But what if I told you that's not how this shit works at all?
What if I told you time exists both as a whole and not at all simultaneously?
So how does time work?
Let's crack open a bottle of mindfuck and start chugging. Are you ready to Get Learnt?

Some of you might think of space and time as two different things.

Well guess what, asshat? They're ONE thing: SPACETIME

Spacetime is the concept that both time and space convert into each other, and was the foundation for Einstein's theory of special relativity. Einstein postulated spacetime after observing other physics nerd's experimental results regarding the laws of physics and the speed of light. You see, the speed of light remains constant for all observers, regardless of their own motions. It doesn't matter if you're standing still or putting light bulbs in your butt hole. So In order to make sense of this, space and time became one.

This soon gave rise to a new understanding of gravity: The Equivalence Principle. Through this principle, it is stated that gravity is equivalent to acceleration and doesn't work like other forces such as electricity. Gravity affects all objects the same way, and because of this, Einstein theorized that gravity must be the cause of some property of spacetime.

And that property was curvature.

Gravity feels strongest where spacetime is most curved, and it vanishes where spacetime is flat. This is the core of Einstein's theory of general relativity; matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move.

On earth, where speeds are small compared to the speed of light and the gravitational field is weak, it turns out that nearly all of our weight exists due to the warping of time, rather than space. This means that gravity on earth is "equivalent" to acceleration in the sense that clocks on Earth run slower than clocks in space.

But Einstein wasn't the one who theorized the actual fabric of 4-Dimensional spacetime.

That honor goes to Hermann Minkowski with his "Minkowski 4-D spacetime" theory.

At first, Einstein dismissed this theory but changed his mind shortly after realizing this was essential in deriving his theory of general relativity.

Minkowski's idea of 4-Dimensional spacetime was a diagram of 2 cones of light, one containing the past, one containing the future, with their joining vertices being the present. Here, it is shown that the past and future exist with the present, and we're simply moving through them as shown by the red line.

Did you read that right?

THE PAST AND FUTURE ARE ALREADY THERE Everything that HAS ever happened and WILL ever happen, is all happening at ONCE.

Right now.

This instant.

FOREVER.

This fucked up concept derives from eternalism, a philosophical approach to the nature of time that states all existence in time is equally real and happening all at once because there IS NO DIRECT FLOW of time. This is sometimes referred to as the "block universe" theory because it depicts spacetime as an unchanging "block".

Now let's back up a second and talk about dimensions.

Anyone with a Crayola-free diet knows we exist within what is called 3rd Dimensional spacetime.
3-Dimensional objects have a length, width, and depth, or simply put, an X,Y, and Z axis.
4-Dimensional objects contain an X,Y, and Z axis as well, but have another axis: W.

I don't give a shit what the Avenger's movie showed you, THIS is a tesseract; a 4-Dimensional "cube".

The 4th-Dimension is known for simply being "time", but that's WRONG! The relationship and interaction between 4-D spacetime and time itself is much like how 3-D spacetime and space interact.
A 3-D object in 3-Dimensional space is able to move through space because it has an X, Y, and Z axis. Alternatively, a 4-D object in 4-Dimensional space is able to move through time because it has an X, Y, Z, and W axis.

So "time" is not the sole characteristic of 4-D spacetime, it's simply a medium that can be traversed through, like distance. If that's hard to wrap your head around, think of "time" as what allows the 4-D objects to "flow" within themselves like the tesseract above. It's not moving through space, but through time.

This means if a 4-Dimensional object was a living being, from our 3-Dimensional point of view, this being could change their age at will. But if we were 4-D ourselves, we wouldn't be confined to a single time-bound age, and would instead be every age at the same time. Savvy?

Also, fun fact: There are 11 theorized dimensions, each possessing their own relationships with time. But that's a headache for another post.

Now let's look at how time can be altered.

The butterfly effect is a well known concept that parallels chaos theory, a more in depth take on the notion that "shit happens".
This phenomenon outlines the idea that a small change in a complex system, no matter how insignificant, can have large effects elsewhere. You know, like if you go back in time and accidentally fuck a monkey to death, it could change your present to one where Russians don't post random GTA screenshots with no context.

Chaos theory, as well as the butterfly effect, concerns deterministic systems that can in principle be predicted. However, unlike the other, chaos theory is a branch of mathematics designed to quantify disorder through the recording of underlying patterns, feedback loops, and fractals.

Chaos is: When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future.
So A = B, but ~A =/= ~B.
Ever been in traffic and wondered what the fuck was causing all the bullshit? Chaos theory might help you find out why.

Both of these phenomenon generate impacts on "time", altering our experiences seemingly without reason. One could say that the multiverse, with all it's variations of realities, is a product of chaos stemming from different initial conditions and producing different outcomes, with each BECOMING its own reality.
So if a butterfly shits on a leaf, an ENTIRE REALITY is formed to encompass an existence where it DIDN'T take a shit on that leaf.
How quaint.

Now for the big question: How do we MANIPULATE time?

Every person EVER has thought about what they'd do if they could travel or pause time. But how could we do this? And what would be the repercussions?

The idea of time travel has been the basic concept of thousands of stories, movies, and daydreams. I mean, who wouldn't want to go into the future where we've colonized multiple planets? Or go back in time to fight Jesus?
As science-fiction and ridiculous as the idea seems, there are actually multiple methods proposed for going both forward and backward in time.

Check this shit out:
Going forward in time is actually the easiest "direction" to travel in; you're doing it right now.
But seriously, traveling great distances into the future is considered very much possible. Like we discussed earlier, gravity is the product of the warping of time rather than space, and because of this, plays a major role in the influence of time. Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity states that to travel forward in time, an object must reach speeds close to the speed of light. At these speeds, time slows down for that object in an effect called time dilation. If you traveled this fast away from Earth for 40 years, 80 would have passed for everyone else back on the planet. Even at slower speeds, this effect is still present. Astronauts, while by a minuscule amount, age slower in orbit on the ISS than we do on Earth.

Additionally, the stronger the gravitational forces enacting on you are, the slower time moves. For those of you that saw the movie 'Interstellar' you'll remember how spending just a few hours on a large planet orbiting a black holes resulted in decades of time passing on Earth. So turns out you don't need a "time machine" to visit the future. You just need some gravity.

Going backward in time, however, is nowhere as "simple".

Going back in time will require a little more than going 88 mph. 90 won't do it either, you boner.

Now if you're trying to go back in time and be your own dad, you'll need more exotic methods you creepy little shit. Such as a straight up time machine.

Time machines are often thought to need an exotic form of matter with "negative energy density." The properties of this type of matter would be bizarre as FUCK, such as moving in the opposite direction it's pushed in. Such matter COULD exist, but if it does, it's most likely in amounts too small to power a machine.
However, research on time-travel suggests exotic matter may not be necessary. You would start with a doughnut-shaped hole enveloped within a sphere of normal matter. Inside this doughnut-shaped vacuum, space-time could get bent upon itself using focused gravitational fields to form a closed time-like curve. To go back in time, a traveler would race around inside the doughnut, going further back into the past with each lap. Only issue here is, the gravitational fields required to make such a closed time-like curve would have to be very strong, and manipulating them would have to be very precise.

So other than hurdling into a black hole and hoping a wormhole is inside that connects to the past, your options are pretty limited.

More than likely, traveling back in time is naturally and completely impossible. Time, while not linear, could have "developed" in a way that prevents paradoxical events such as being your own father. Because you cannot be your own father, therefore, you cannot alter time in a way that allows this to be a possibility. The Universe doesn't like paradoxes.

So what about STOPPING time?

You can't. It's impossible.
You'd sooner perfect time-travel into the past before you managed to freeze reality.
But if you COULD stop time, lemme explain why that would be the last thing you ever did.

For starters, stopping time would, in turn, "stop" everything in the Universe.
Every creature.
Every planet.
EVERY PARTICLE.

The first thing you would notice upon stopping time would be that it's dark.

PITCH BLACK DARK.
Because everything has stopped, particles of light called "photons" are unable to refract off objects and into the rod cells within your eyes that allow you to see. So now you're blind. Smooth move, time-tard.

But if you COULD see, the second thing you would notice would be that the fabric of reality is quickly collapsing. All molecular and gravitational forces controlling the 7 states of matter ceases to exist without the influence of time, and this is a SLIGHT problem. With all forms of matter disintegrating and every fundamental force ceasing to exist, the Universe would do the same. It would simply fade away. No explosion.

JUST FADE.

The exact workings on how this process would go down is up for debate, but one thing is known for sure: If you stop time, you stop existence.

As if we needed more proof the movie Click was garbage.

So after all this, WHAT is time and how does it WORK?

Time is the barrier between 3-Dimensional and 4-Dimensional spacetime.
It is the omnipresent factor between all realities and dimensions.
It is the quantification of reality and the Universe.

Time does not flow in one direction, but all directions at once.
It is infinite, yet finite.
It is existence.
It is everything.

So next time someone asks you what time it is, you can tell them "Every time" like a pretentious cunt.

and dont forget stay LEARNED steemians.