Does Time Exist?

WHAT IS TIME ?

Einstein  had once said, "Time is just an illusion".  Perhaps it is true that time really does not exist for the universe. After all, we humans are the ones who made it up.

THE HISTORY OF TIME

A long time ago(sometime before the 1500 B.C.), the sundial was invented in ancient Egypt and the measurement of time began. But back then, time was not measured in the same way as it is measured in the present. The concept of minutes, seconds, and hours didn't exist at that time. 

In the past, the unit of time was the period of daylight

I had recently read somewhere that maybe time was invented by clock companies to sell more clocks.

Are clocks all that time is associated with?  Is there nothing else about time other than minute, second, and hour hands?

Of course there is.

So let us start expanding our knowledge on time.

We have all obviously known since our childhood what time means. But what would you say if  I ask you to explain it to me? How would you put it in words?

It's quite simple. Time can be defined as the progression of events from the past to the present to the future.  

BUT DO THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE EXIST ?

Generally what is seen as present is what comes right after the past and right before the future. But this means that the present simply does not exist, because it will never have a duration. 

The past and the future are non - existent anyway. They have just been made up in order to describe the present, which also does not exist.

So if the past, present, and future don't exist, then how can we define time?

Time has always been associated with the passing of seasons and the cycles of celestial objects. But there is really no special rule regarding the passage of time in modern physics. I mean, we do know about how to calculate time using  the formula t = d/s, where t is time, d is distance, and s is the speed.

But what about the nature of time? How do we know what time even means?

Or does it even mean anything?

Probably not. At least not for the universe.

Just as the famous physicist has said, time is just an illusion. Time was invented by the mind and is significant for nothing else, other than the mind. Time was only invented to describe the rate of the change which the mind experiences.

In order for time to have any meaning for the mind too, matter and energy have to exist at the same time. If there was no matter, or no energy, or if both matter and energy had not existed, then there would be no change. And if there is no change, this concept of time that has been made up would not exist. 

It is physics and philosophy merged together that brings up such questions and ideas. To think about them, and to try to answer them is something that gives one a completely different perspective of the nature around them.

Thank you for reading.

- Arya Bharaty