Time, Space, and 'Me'

Two of the most mysterious and fascinating aspects of the universe. Oh, three, actually.

Two of the most mysterious and fascinating aspects of the universe. Oh, three, actually.

Trying to understand

[ but having gut feelings already ]

What, then, is time? > If no one asks me, I know. > If I try to explain it to someone who asks, I do not know.

The conceptions of both space and time are build into our cognition of the world. We are able to use them instinctively. Without actively thinking about them. We do not need to make explicit calculations to know, for example, where and when a thrown ball will be in a moment or two. The precision of our gut feelings about its movement is good enough to catch it.

Hey, my dog can do it as well.

It becomes much harder though, when we try to explain: - What is space. - What is time.

The famous quote above summarizes the feeling.

Order of all

There is a particularly beautiful thought about the nature of space and time by Leibnitz. The thought not necessarily explains everything we know up to now, but is not too wrong either. I love a stripped-down version of it:

Space is the order of coexistence > Time is the order of succession

Where in those orders should we find our self?

You have heard the answer to this question many times probably. Anyway, I do find amusing to find it here once again. Finding a place for oneself in those orders is a waking-up exercise.

A stage, arena and setting

Space and time are essential to our understanding of the universe. They are the stage, arena and setting on which all events take place, from the smallest subatomic interactions to the largest cosmic explosions.

All our interactions with everyone and everything. All the meaningful connections.

Our mind is also a stage for our selves, our consciousness to exist.

As we know the time and space are interconnected. Is our mind a part of the same stage as well? Or is it a setting on its own?

Is our consciousness in a space-time-mind localized state? Is it a cage of a kind? Our temporary prison?

A mystery

  1. A stage
  2. A fabric
  3. An order
  4. A mystery
  5. Our anchor in the world