# Does time exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 17, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103 "2003-10-17T22:02:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/1 "2003-10-17T22:02:59Z")
I put this in GD, since i figure on no definite answer. Not really something to debate, but sometimes I think too much and I’m currently having problems with time. Reading threads that said “the big bang created time” and Sci-Fi with talk about additional dimensions make my head hurt. So I wonder - does time exist, except as an abstraction, invented by humans? We use time to make the society function (timetables, meetings, agendas ASF), we use it in physics and related sciences to make things work. We define one second as _9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation associated with the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom_, which of course amounts to is finding something that is one second long. But is there really any such things as time? The more I think about it, the more it seems I’m doing curcular reasoning. The universe doesn’t give a damn about time, it just _is_. Or maybe I just need a girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/2 "2003-10-17T22:12:35Z")
The second law of thermodynamics is strong evidence that time exists. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/3 "2003-10-17T22:22:51Z")
I think of time as sort of an artifact, not the mechanism itself; that is, the possibility of measuring and doing useful things with ‘time’ just happens to be a feature of the rules that define the universe. Time can be very annoying; if time didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have to say, “I used to have a girlfriend”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/4 "2003-10-17T22:27:53Z")
This subject has been done several times (no pun intended) in the last few months. There was a cover article in Scientific American recently on that very subject. Many phsyicists say that time is a human construct and that we perceive as time is actually just the transition from one quantum state to another. And the fundamental equations of QM are symtrical wrt to time (work just as well with negative time as they do with positive time). You might also want to look up info on the “Many Worlds Hypothesis” of QM. I have to say that it makes a lot of sense, given what we know about QM, to question whether or not time exists. It’s counterintutive, but so is most of QM. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/5 "2003-10-17T22:47:48Z")
I’m inclined to view time as axiomatic to physical theories, just like the x,y,z directions. It is clear that time exists as it is an easily observable physical phenoumena. When it was though that the universe was 100% deterministic, it was said that time is an illusion, but people who say that are stuck in the past. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/6 "2003-10-18T00:00:42Z")
I refute it _thus_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NOW what time is it? ---
**Author:** ![Svt4Him](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Svt4Him](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svt4Him)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/7 "2003-10-18T00:11:08Z")
If time didn’t exist, how would the lawyers be able to bill so much? And why do my kids keep getting bigger (and smarter according to one of them) than me? And why are these silly lines showing up on my face? ---
**Author:** ![electric\_sheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@electric\_sheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/electric_sheep)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/8 "2003-10-18T00:51:54Z")
If you are referring to the experience of that which we call “time,” it is the result of change, be it within the brain or the environment. Stop change and you stop time. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/9 "2003-10-18T01:26:07Z")
What electric!sheep said. Time, in my opinion, is our interpretation of something else, like sound is an interpretation of certain vibrations. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/10 "2003-10-18T06:43:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\*Or maybe I just need a girlfriend. \*\* If you can find one that will give you the time of day. And if you find her, please don’t try using this OP or a like subject to impress her. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/11 "2003-10-18T07:03:22Z")
I suspect that the way we experience as time is an illusion of sorts. If I may recommend a book - _About Time_ by Paul Davies is a really interesting exploration of the phenomenon of time; it’s chock full of cool theories and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/12 "2003-10-18T10:09:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > **I suspect that the way we experience as time is an illusion of sorts.** You don’t need a book for that. Never experienced time dilation? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/13 "2003-10-18T10:12:49Z")
But I don’t by into any of that where Time (intentional capital T) is just being used as a human construction. We’ve defined one second as being one second. 3600 of this make up something we call an hour and lawyers charge stratospherical amounts for us having their service during what we call an hour. That’s no proof that Time exists. Regarding x, y, z and T - well it’s just more of the same, ableit getting a bit more complex than the lawyers (or not). As primitive humnas, we had an idea about before and later, about day and night. When the agrarian era started, we needed to be more precise, to farm succesfully. (And it’s getting really hard to write this without temporal references) Later (sic!) in human history, we’ve invented ways to meassure what we call time in finer fractions, as the need arised. But which came first our need for time or Time itself? Yes, we meassure change by putting the Time label on it, but that’s no reason to assume that Time does exist? I’m gonna play Civ3 now, to rinse my brain. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/14 "2003-10-18T15:16:15Z")
[http://www.time.gov/](http://www.time.gov/) Go there and follow the link to “exhibits” and you’ll find a lot more about time than you really wanted to know. Unless you are really interested, of course. ---
**Author:** ![minega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@minega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minega)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/15 "2003-10-18T15:40:23Z")
Time does exist! cites: Hootie and the Blowfish “time…why do you punish me?” Backstreet Boys “Time…look where we are and what we’ve been through…” Homer Simpson: “This time Madge…im putting my foot down!” All action movie trailers: “This time-its personal!” I could go on… ---
**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/16 "2003-10-18T17:39:09Z")
being of christian beliefs, i believe it exists only because of sin. in revelation, it says something about time being no more. to God, there is no time. the phrase “slain from the foundation of the world” implies this. if time _did_ exist after the end of the world, i wouldn’t like the idea of eternity at all. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-exist/208103/17 "2003-10-18T18:44:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gyan9 \* > \*\*You don’t need a book for that. Never experienced time dilation? \*\* I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing. I assume you are talking about our subjective perception of time, which seems to vary depending on our emotional state, among other things. But relativity holds that even time that is measured objectively by a clock can change. I’m not convinced that the two are necessarily the same.