What is Time?

A philosophical explanation, and personal use of time.

Time does not exist. The only thing that exists is the present. The past is gone and the future is yet to come. Planet Earth is always moving through space, with a certain speed. Speed is the amount of distance we cover in a certain period of time. We need time as a definition to be aware of where we are. But that is all. We do not possess time and time does not possess us, it only limits us.

Of course, you can feel the effect of time passing, but that does not mean that time is real.

If I ask you: what year are we living in? You are likely to say “in the year 2021” (there is more than one calendar). This is, of course, not true. It has no relation to the time of the universe. Time management is an agreement between human beings.

We make the assumption that time is absolute and bound to all life. But, I disagree. A mouse has a time expectancy on earth of 2.6 years, an elephant about 80 years. Everyone says that the elephant’s life is longer. But that is not true.

The number of times the mouse and the elephant eat, have sex or sleep is the same. The mouse has a faster metabolism, so it lives faster. The mouse feels 2.6 years like the elephant’s 80 years.

The number of heartbeats of all mammals is approximately the same. Therefore, that is what is constant. Life and not time. Time is a variable. Or, at least, the perception of time is variable. Time is relative, as Albert Einstein once explained: