The Concept of Time

A few days ago I penned another article Is there other sentient life out there? and at the end of the article I postulated the Theory that Time is Non-Linear with the following brief description:

"Non-Linear Time - meaning that time isn't linear like we currently believe but that it wraps around in a circle repeating itself....if this is true stuff that happened 10,000 years ago could have also happened 10 million years ago and could happen again in 10 million years from now. As if your brain hasn't already exploded consider this: If Non-Linear Time is real then all those ancient artifacts, structures, objects could actually be stuff that hasn't even been created yet and because time loops we see it now even though it won't exist for thousands or millions of years into our future!"

To be perfectly honest, as I wrote that paragraph, I found myself wondering "where the hell did that come from". It isn't something I can recall every thinking about or researching. It literally just popped in my head as I was finishing that article. However, over the last few days, I have found myself thinking about it almost non-stop. Analyzing TIME and what, if anything, it is.....over and over! So I decided to pen another article (this one) and delve deeper into the mystery that is TIME.

To the best of human knowledge and scientific understanding Human Beings are the only life on Earth that has any concept of time. Is that because it is something we made up to make sense of everything around us? Is it because we are the only species on this planet capable of conceiving something as radical as time? Is it actually something we don't understand at all so we give it arbitrary parameters to make it fit into what we think we know?

If you ask 100 respected scientists "What is time" you will likely get 100 different answers! Why? Is it truly beyond our comprehension or have we just not figured out the answer yet? There are theories as to "what is time" but which one, if any, are correct?

Theory #1 - Time is Linear

The most commonly, currently, accepted theory of time is that it is linear. That Time is the natural progression of life, evolution and all that exists in the cosmos. It is absolute, fixed and invariable.

In this theory time is the same, always and everywhere! Except we know that isn't true. Albert Einstein postulated that as you accelerate faster and faster that time for you would pass at a different speed than time for everything/everyone else. For example: if you boarded a space ship and flew near the speed of light for 100 years and then returned to Earth....for you 100 years would have passed but you would arrive back in Earth only a few weeks or months after you left to everyone who staid on Earth during your flight.

Astronauts that traveled to the Moon inadvertently proved Einstein correct. Even at speeds less than 0.01% the speed of light there was a difference in the passage of time for the astronauts aboard the Apollo missions and everyone back on Earth. So does that prove Time is NOT LINEAR? I believe it does!

Theory #2 - Time is a property of something else

The current theory is that Electricity (Energy), Electromagnetism and Gravity are actually different properties of the same thing. Einstein's Unifying Theory! So is it possible that Time is actually a property of something else like Energy or Matter? Maybe the result of something else like the expansion of space? Or the interaction between an ever expanding universe and the propagation of Energy/Matter in the universe?

Theory #3 - Non-Linear Time

Time is finite, limited, can only exist for a short period before wrapping back around upon itself. Think of Time as the inside of a blown up balloon. You can start at any point on the inside of that balloon and travel along it's surface indefinitely.....but sooner or later you will come back to where you started. The longer you travel the surface of the inside of the balloon the more you will return to the beginning.

There is, at least in my mind, strong evidence that this is actually "what time is". It doesn't break any of our current understanding of the Laws of Science, Physics, Space or any other field of study. In fact it explains an immense amount of things we have yet to be able to explain. If Time is Non-Linear, repeats itself, or at the very least overlaps itself then:

*Christianity teaching that the Earth is only a few thousand years old and science teaching the Earth is billions of years old could both be true.

• Ancient Ruins/Artifacts/Structures found all over Earth that are scientifically dated to have been built between 1000 and 10000 years ago, by civilizations that absolutely had no way to build them could in fact be billions of years old; or not have even been built yet or BOTH.
• Out of Place Artifacts that appear in Rock scientifically dated to be hundreds of thousands to billions of years old could also be modern (from this point in time), from the future and from the past all simultaneously.
• Modern day humans who are scientifically believed to be between 30,000 and 300,000 years old could be both, as well as billions of years old or not even come into existence yet.

The theory that Time is Non-Linear could also explain things like:

• How a technologically advanced species (other than humans) would be able to travel distances of millions or billions of light years in a relatively short span (within their lifetime or quicker)
• How everything in the universe came to exist, exists today or will exist at some other point "in time".
• How long extinct species of plants and animals, that have not been present on Earth for thousands or millions of years, are being "rediscovered" in recent years. (Yeah I know but trust me it is happening RIGHT NOW just Google it)
• How countless cultures and civilizations through out Human History have known about things like:
  a) The existence of modern technology like cellphones, airplanes, helicopters, submarines, etc. as written/drawn while those civilizations existed
  b) The existence of dinosaurs that died out millions of years before those cultures existed and wrote about or drew them during that cultures existence.
  c) How so many cultures/civilizations have documented what we call today ALIENS. Maybe they were just misunderstanding other Human Beings from a different point in time that they encountered due to Non-Linear Time!
  d) How Modern Humans took such a massive technological leap forward over the last 150 or so years. Maybe we discovered technology from our distant future that looped around into the past and was there for us to discover (early). Think about it, 150 years ago we had virtually no medicine, technology, etc. We were farmers, hunters and gatherers who lived in groups (settlements, towns, etc) with limited imagination and virtually no scientific or technological understanding (with a few notable exceptions like Leonardo DiVinci, Nikola Tesla, etc.) and then poof as if almost overnight (compared to how long we have existed) we took a drastic and massive step forward in science, medicine and technology. So drastic that we went from dying by the millions each year by the common cold to Living in Outer Space, being able to transmit energy and data wirelessly, having cures/vaccines for virtually everything that would have killed us 150 years ago and so much more.

It is true that there are other possible explanations for our sudden advancement as a species, things such as:

• Aliens visiting Earth and helping us. This, while possible, is highly unlikely. Think about it, if you are old enough and technologically advanced enough to fly millions or billions of light years across the universe, why in the hell would you want to help a bunch of apes who can barely wipe their own ass develop technology that could be turned against them?
• Time Travelers coming back in time and giving us a helping hand way earlier than we would have developed on our own - still could be a result of Non-Linear Time Theory
• Natural evolution of our species that allowed such a sudden and drastic increase in our mental, scientific and technological abilities. If this is the case, it would stand to reason that it wouldn't have happened ONLY WITH HUMANS as their are countless others species on this planet that could/should have taken a similar leap forward. For example Dolphins/Porpoises, Whales, numerous species of Primates, etc. that are in their own way equal to or smarter than humans were 150 years ago. So why only humans taking such a drastic leap forward?

It seems to me that the only Theory of Time that stands even a remote chance of being accurate or correct is Non-Linear Time Theory. Fully understanding and grasping the intricacies of such a theory may be beyond our current mental capacity, but what if I am correct? What would that mean for us in the future?

Imagine we some day prove NON-LINEAR TIME THEORY is correct and learn to harness that knowledge. The possibilities could/would include:

• Developing a way to map when/where time will repeat/overlap itself
• Developing a technological way to utilize time repeating/overlapping itself to leave one point in time and instantly appear at a different point in time
• Developing a means for accurately predicting when/where things were/will be built, come into existence on this planet.
• Developing the ability to see everything that has ever happened, is happening today or will ever happen in the future; as well as predicting what effects every single event will have on every other event since time repeats/overlaps.
• Developing cures for diseases that existed in the past or won't exist until well into the future.
• Preventing disease, famine, catastrophic events that happened in the past or will happen in the future - imagine being able to prevent Adolf Hitler from every being born. Preventing the asteroid that caused the last Ice Age. Preventing the destruction of our planet, cities, civilizations, etc. Just imagine how different life on Earth would be today if we could prevent bad/evil things/people and save the good things/people....in the past, present or future!