I think time is the way we distinguish between what's us and what's other. We perceive things that are not us after the fact. This is easy to see when we view something light-years away as in stars and galaxies. What we see in the present actually happened a long time ago. It's a bit harder to see that the same holds true for literally everything that isn't us. Even scrutinizing a bug from a distance of a foot or so, the light we see takes a tiny bit of time to reach us, and the bug we perceive is not the bug that is there now. Thus, the only present is the self. I would propose that awareness of self, consciousness, is dependent on this mechanism. With no separation between self and other, there is no awareness of self by definition.
A byproduct of time, then, is an awareness of other. The more I become aware of time, the more I become aware that there are others in the universe, and the larger the universe becomes. The awareness of time grounds me in the sense that I gain perspective as to who/what is me, and who/what is others.
This is the meaning behind space and time being inseparable: "space-time". It locates me. It grounds me. And understanding it, I can more easily imagine how things look from other viewing points. In other words, I can better understand, and tolerate, differences and similarities among people (and all life forms).
Time as a measure of change is then added to that view. Sequencing does allow us to make sense of things, keep us "sane," but it is not an illusion. Change does occur. Recalling the first definition of time, I can see that you might become aware of a change either before or after I do. In other words, your measure of time, your clock, if you will, "ticks" differently than mine. Again, I gain perspective and tolerance -- and understanding by seeing time.
Well put, that perspective can be so influenced by space-time!
ReplyDeleteYou use the stars as an example of distance/separation, and the instance of the beetle, but I think that once you understand the notion of 'self' and 'other' it's important to also notice that as we get closer (i.e. in families, relationships, love) we become closer to seeing others as ourselves - or vice versa.
This reminds me a bit of 'mirror neurons', which have been mapped in monkeys to show that when one monkey watches another one peel a banana, the very same part of the brain fires up as when that monkey is doing the same action himself.
I think that, although our level of tolerance and acceptance may vary, we are extremely efficient at relating to the 'others' around us. Does there come a point when we could say two (or more) beings are more same (self) than other?
Very interesting stuff to think about. :)
Great thoughts; Thanks!
Delete"Does there come a point when we could say two (or more) beings are more same (self) than other?"
You raise a very important question, I think. I can't reply adequately here. It's going to take a full post (maybe more than one), and some time to write it. Coming soon ; )