Time: The Final Frontier Essay, Research Paper

The temporal world in which we live encompasses everything we know. All of our knowledge comes from a trust of five and a half billion people that have no idea where they came from, and no idea where they are headed; a world of blind leading blind. A vital component of this reality exists in a form that is neither provable, nor ideal. This supposedly perfect form of measurement, known as time, runs our lives until we fall so far behind that our bodies finally give out and die. This merciless device, described in three forms, past, present and future, drives on as you read these words. These three simple words hold all the power ever known on earth. They are the essential elements to our lives as well as the formula that keeps us mortal. Without it, perhaps, we could not exist; maybe we would become immortal, like gods.

At present, we are all in the process of trying to accomplish something; a task, action, or lack thereof. At any given instance, the present exists. One can choose any moment in history, and, at some time, it had existed in the form of the present. Also, in the mind of the person remembering this moment in the past, it exists as present in that particular memory. How can we know that the definition of the word present actually establishes this instant in time? The instant itself only lasts for zero time before subsequent moments follow. How can one define what a word means if one cannot observe the object it represents? Right as one realizes what this present consists of, it leaves his world, a new present moment replacing it, departing before it is realized as well.

This process has always occurred, always will. All societies have blindly accepted this curse of never knowing when one can trust this manmade idea to exist in any form but theory. All of the history we can possibly believe to be positively true is that of what we experience. How can we as individuals fillied with cynicism absolutely accept as truth the supposed facts only relayed to us by strangers? All of the text books, documents, and lectures contain both infestations of opinion and, more importantly, second hand accounts of an event one cannot experience first hand. Therefore, present is the only frame in time that the current human race can trust fully as true. Both the past and the future, for different reasons, diverge from the present because of the fact that one cannot assume that they ever have taken place, or ever will.

Comparatively, the past consists of moments that have lived and died. It presents itself as a string of dead presents. Only two things signify the past: memory and past tense. In no other mode of thinking can one express past. Even if one could possibly travel back into time, that person would never actually reach the past, for when that individual reaches any moment in time, in their point of view, they are in the present. Therefore, one can only visualize the past, but can never become it. This is the argument that disproves the existence of the past. One can never achieve it. On the other hand, one can achieve the near future. One cannot even be sure that the past, even the last few seconds, ever has existed. If God, or whatever created the universe, did so at this very instance, and created the memories that all of humanity possess right now, humanity would never know because they remember many years worth of the ‘past.’ In this twisted mode of thought, past and future converge; with the uncertainty of whether each had or will ever exist.

Past differs with the future for three other reasons as well:, thought, future tense, and free will. Many think of the past as a series of mistakes, a voodoo doll for any to stab. With reminders of failures and chances not taken, humans have a tendency to treat the past as a pile of dust that will not fit under the rug. The past may appear tainted, but the future holds boundless possibilities. In no other domain of time does free will take refuge. The blessing, and curse, of free will holds all the positive, or negative, prospects that saturate an open mind. The future exists for two main reasons: to take up time otherwise wasted, and for an empty slate to make up for the losses in the past. The uncertainty of whether or not tomorrow, or the next second for that matter, arrives should only come as an encouragement toward the seizure of the best in life.

In the act of thinking, one must use future tense to describe actions, wishes, and In the thought process, the result exists in the future which the person quickly approaches, only the thought remains in the theoretical realm of the present. Once the subject coordinates the moment in time and the action, which also requires tremendous thought, the future moves to present, the action takes place, and the materialization of the instant into history takes place.

No known human has discovered the cure for time. The world ages regardless of what the human race does to try to stop it. Along with this world, all the organisms within it also fall victim to the many cruelties of time. Not just the act of aging, but the suddenness of the present, the regret of the past, and the uncertainty of the future. In a world of time, people both realize and fear mortality. In a world without time, whether life could exist or not it is uncertain. The question is, do we risk our existence for a chance at eternal life?