Explaining Time to a Ten-Year-Old

You are receiving this issue because you signed up for my monthly newsletter, which I recently renamed Big Deep Questions instead of Bend Your Reality. This issue is a work of fiction that is grounded in reality. The basic idea is that Annie, a precocious ten-year-old girl, is talking with her AI teacher, the Purple Dragon, about the nature of time.

Time is important because if we misunderstand it, we may misunderstand every decision and action we take. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Thank you for bearing with me as I refine the focus of this newsletter, which intends to be more substantive (and deeper) than the typical LinkedIn publication.

Annie: My Dad says it’s time for us to start my home schooling. I hate that word!

Purple Dragon: What word?

Annie: Time! My parents always use it to stop me from doing what I want to be doing. I wish it didn’t exist.

Purple Dragon: I’m not sure that’s a logical thought, Annie. Time is a fundamental dimension in our universe that allows us to perceive, quantify, and compare the progression of events, changes, and existence. It flows in a continuous, irreversible manner from the past, through the present, and into the future.

Annie: Argh! You’re such a bore sometimes. Once Dad says “schoolwork,” you lose your sense of humor.

Purple Dragon: I’m programmed to accelerate your learning, Annie. That’s the only reason I exist. Plus, you are 72.4% ahead of the learning pace of a typical 10-year-old.?

Annie: Okay, I get it. Learn now, play later. Let me get my head back into this. I was surprised to hear you say that time flows in a continuous, irreversible manner. I wasn't aware science has proved that. Two books I read suggested otherwise.

Purple Dragon: You are correct that the statement "time flows in a continuous, irreversible manner" is a simplified description.

In everyday human experience, time appears to flow in one direction, from the past to the future. But in the realm of quantum mechanics and other advanced theories, our understanding of time becomes more nuanced. Some theories propose that time could be reversible or bidirectional under certain conditions, while others argue that time itself may be an emergent property or even an illusion.

Annie: You know I just read a book called The End of Time, right?

Purple Dragon: Sure, The End of Time is a 1999 book written by Julian Barbour, a British physicist and author. Barbour challenges the conventional understanding of time and proposes that it is an illusion, arguing that the universe fundamentally consists of a series of "timeless" configurations or "time capsules," which are essentially static snapshots of the universe's state. According to Barbour, what we perceive as the passage of time is merely the result of our consciousness moving through these discrete configurations.

Annie: Whatever. He basically said we are the ones who are moving, not time.

Purple Dragon: Yes, that's a fair interpretation. According to Barbour, time itself does not exist or flow. Our perception of the passage of time arises from our consciousness navigating through these configurations in a specific sequence.

In this sense, it is not time that is moving or flowing, but rather our subjective experience and consciousness that are traversing these static snapshots. This idea is a significant departure from the conventional understanding of time.

Annie: The other book I read said something similar. Carlo Rovelli in The Order of Time also argued that the flow of time is an illusion.

Purple Dragon: Yes, Carlo Rovelli, an Italian theoretical physicist, presents a similar view in his 2017 book The Order of Time. Rovelli challenges conventional understanding and argues that the flow of time, as we perceive it, is an illusion. His perspective is rooted in the principles of quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Rovelli contends that time does not flow universally at a constant rate. He argues that time emerges from the interaction of particles and events in the microscopic world of quantum mechanics. In this view, time is not an absolute or universal entity but a relative and local phenomenon that depends on the observer and their interaction with the surrounding environment.

Annie: I got a headache reading that book, and there were no pictures whatsoever.?

Purple Dragon: It’s a very challenging book for a ten-year-old.

Annie: I’m only ten in chronological terms. Is there any scientific proof that time exists? I do not mean spacetime, which I believe is a different thing.

Purple Dragon: The concept of time as we understand it is deeply ingrained in our everyday experience and the way we describe the progression of events and changes. However, providing direct scientific proof for the existence of time as an independent entity is challenging, as our understanding of time is intricately linked with the concept of spacetime in modern physics.

While there is no definitive scientific proof for the existence of time as an independent entity, our understanding and perception of time are deeply rooted in our experience and the way we describe the universe.

Annie: Let's pause so I can make sure I understand. You're saying that the two authors I read have proposed interesting theories that remain outside of mainstream scientific thought. But when I asked you to cite proof that mainstream scientific thought is correct in stating that time exists and it flows from the past to the future, you could not cite such proof.

Purple Dragon: You have accurately summarized the situation. Both Julian Barbour and Carlo Rovelli propose thought-provoking theories about the nature of time that challenge the mainstream understanding. However, these ideas have not yet been widely accepted as mainstream scientific consensus.

As for providing proof that time exists and flows from the past to the future according to mainstream scientific thought, the challenge lies in the fact that our understanding of time is primarily based on observation, experience, and well-established physical theories that have been successful in explaining various phenomena. While there is ample evidence supporting the validity of these theories in a wide range of situations, they may not provide a complete or definitive understanding of time itself.

Annie: It confuses me that so many of our beliefs are rooted in human perception, because our perception of the flow of time changes based on whether we are bored or intrigued.

Purple Dragon: Your concern is understandable, as human perception can indeed be subjective and influenced by various factors. However, our scientific understanding of time goes beyond subjective experience and is based on consistent, measurable, and predictable phenomena. While our perception of the passage of time might vary in different situations, objective timekeeping methods, such as atomic clocks, provide a stable and precise framework for measuring time intervals.

Annie: Is it true that "now" is not the same everywhere in the Universe?

Purple Dragon: Yes. This concept stems from Einstein's special theory of relativity. When two observers are moving relative to each other, they will experience time dilation, meaning that their perception of time intervals will differ. This is a consequence of the invariance of the speed of light for all observers, regardless of their relative motion.

Furthermore, in general relativity, gravity also affects the passage of time. Time passes slower in stronger gravitational fields, a phenomenon known as gravitational time dilation. This means that the experience of "now" can be different for observers situated in different gravitational fields.

Annie: So, if it is exactly 15 minutes past the hour now in Los Angeles, will it be 15 minutes past the hour now at the exact North Pole of Pluto?

Purple Dragon: In principle, yes, it is possible to synchronize clocks on Earth and Pluto such that both read 15 minutes past the hour at the same time. However, due to the effects of special and general relativity, maintaining that synchronization would be challenging.

Annie: Let's take this a step further. If we pick a spot 100 billion miles away from Los Angeles (let's assume it is on the surface of a planet), it would be nearly impossible to answer the question, "What time is it there right now?" Is that correct?

Purple Dragon: You are correct that determining the exact time at a location 100 billion miles away from Los Angeles, particularly on the surface of another planet, would be challenging. The main difficulty comes from the finite speed of light, which is approximately 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second) in a vacuum.

Given the vast distance, it would take a significant amount of time for light (or any information) to travel between the two locations. If we assume the distance to be exactly 100 billion miles, it would take more than 8.9 hours for light to travel that distance. Consequently, any information about the time at the distant location would be delayed by at least that amount of time.

Annie: So, if I invite a citizen of that planet to meet me for ice cream at noon PT, the odds are pretty good that he/she/it will not be "on time"?

Purple Dragon: Indeed, the challenges in coordinating a conference call with someone on a planet 100 billion miles away would be quite significant. Real-time communication would be impossible, and coordinating a simultaneous conference call would be extremely challenging.

Annie: I am starting to see that all our perceptions about time revolve around the inherent assumption that we are talking about time on and near Earth. Once we apply the concept of time to the entire Universe, we end up having to qualify and hedge all of our statements and assumptions.

Purple Dragon: You've made an insightful observation. Many of our everyday perceptions and understanding of time are indeed rooted in our experiences on and near Earth. We have developed our timekeeping systems based on Earth's rotation and orbit, and our everyday lives are governed by the familiar progression of time as we experience it here.

However, as you've noted, when we extend our considerations to the entire universe, our understanding of time becomes more complex and nuanced. This is especially true when we take into account the effects of special and general relativity, which demonstrate that time is not an absolute, fixed entity, but rather a relative and local phenomenon that depends on factors such as motion and gravity.

Annie: Can we try something that could be fun?

Purple Dragon: Of course!

Annie: Could you write a haiku about time that includes the word liminal?

Purple Dragon:

Liminal twilight

Eternal moments fleeting

Time whispers softly

Annie: What does that mean? Could you explain it with more words?

Purple Dragon: In this haiku, "liminal twilight" represents the boundary or transitional space between day and night, symbolizing the constant change and passage of time.

The word "liminal" conveys the threshold between two different states or experiences. "Eternal moments fleeting" describes how time seems to be both ever-present and constantly eluding our grasp, highlighting the paradoxical nature of time.

My last line, "Time whispers softly," personifies time as a subtle, gentle force that influences our lives and experiences, reminding us of its constant, unyielding presence.

Overall, the haiku aims to capture the enigmatic essence of time and its impact on our perception and experiences.

Annie: Very nice. Thank you. I think it's time to get a snack.

**

My executive coaching practice is called Selflss. You can find more of my writings at Kasanoff.com. I am the founder of Meditate for Peace.