Time for another look at time

TIME FOR ANOTHER LOOK AT TIME

Hebrews 11.1. 

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

In his bestselling book, 'A Brief History of Time', the cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking suggested that there may be two dimensions of time, the one we know and a second which he identified as 'imaginary'. He needed to do this in an attempt to avoid the problems posed by singularities in his theories and also to sidestep the question of 'What happened before the Big Bang?'

The problem was that according to conventional theory, time and space were created with the ‘Big Bang’ and to ask about time before that was futile. However, scientists are now thinking the impossible and looking at new theories to explain the creation and workings of our universe. So am I.

In my booklet, ‘Spiritual Man: An Introduction to Negative Dimensions’, I have proposed such a new theory and hopefully demonstrate how some of the mysteries of the world might be explained. In particular I demonstrate that each of our recognised three spatial dimensions and one of time are, in reality, composed of two additional dimensions, the ‘unreal’ and the ‘imaginary’, the latter as used by Hawking. I show that although in our normal perception of the universe these extra dimensions cancel each other out, they, nevertheless, play a part in life. But what about proof? Is there any evidence for these additional dimensions? I believe that time holds the key.

The three aspects of time have been recognised before. Augustine of Hippo tried to equate them to the Holy Trinity whilst Thomas Aquinas named them and associated them with men, angels and God. It is easy to divide time into three parts, we are constantly aware of them, the present time, (the here and now), the future and the past and I depict them as follows: the present, I refer to as the ‘real’ time, ‘t’: the future by ‘imaginary’ time, ‘it’ where ‘i’ is the square root of minus one and the past as ‘unreal’ time, ‘-t’.

The following, in italics, can be skipped by those who don’t wish to consider the maths.

The three aspects of time can be represented graphically as we do the three spatial dimensions, each acting mutually perpendicularly to each other. Using Cartesian coordinates and exercising Pythagoras theory one can calculate a perceived value of time, ‘T’, as follows:

T= ±√[t² + (-t)² + (it)²]

Solving this we see that:

T= ± t

Neglecting, for the moment, the negative value, this is a statement that the time we experience is in fact the same as the ‘real’ time. And so it should, because although we know about the future and the past we cannot directly experience either, in the same way that we cannot sense the other, ‘unreal’ and ‘imaginary’, dimensions of space. This fact is the crux of my argument that the time we experience is inextricably bound up with historic (‘unreal’) and future (imaginary’) time and although they ordinarily cancel each other out they, nevertheless, play a part in our lives.
If we accept that the future effortlessly morphs into the present and immediately passes on to be the past, we risk the certainty that the present, existing as it would seem to be between a positive value and a negative could equate with zero. That is the present will have no value. However, if we believe, as I do, that the future and the past exist in different dimensions, the problem does not arise.

It is also my contention that ‘unreal’ time is responsible for the brain’s ability to memorise and that ‘imaginary’ time allows humans to solve problems, appreciate art, love and affect the other ineffable traits of the human condition. This is no harder to acknowledge than that the future and the past exist.

Can we infer other properties of time with this new understanding? According to the ‘Big Bang’ theory of creation, ALL of space-time is created at the beginning. This immediately tells us that time according to this model is finite; there IS an end. This fits in well with the religious faith in an ‘end of time’ scenario; the Day of Judgement.

However, in my theory, there is no end of time; the universe simply grows and coalesces with others, expanding into infinite and eternal nothingness, what I refer to as the ‘Pleroma’.

What about time travel? At the point of creation, the universe has no past, therefore ‘unreal’ time, ‘-t’, can be set at zero. The above equation then gives us: T = 0. In otherwise the universe’s clock is set ticking at its inception. On earth the clock has reached nearly fourteen billion years but at the rim where space-time is being created the clock is set at zero. Therefore to travel back in time, to a more primitive period one must travel towards the rim and inversely one must travel back to see the future.

It is easier to imagine one can travel back in time by visiting our sister universe where ‘-t’ time plays a role. Remember the equation above where T = ± t. However it must also be recalled that the ‘unreal’ time act perpendicularly, not linearly, with the time, ‘t’, we experience and measure.

How do the additional dimensions of time affect us on earth? I contend that their influence can be seen in the workings of the brain. The ‘unreal’ time component allows us to recall, whilst the ‘imaginary’ time component allows us to contemplate the future. Consider the example I give in my book concerning the antelope and the lion:

The antelope spots a lion in ‘real’ time, ‘t’ the here and now. ‘Unreal’ time, (-t) recalls (from the past) that lions are dangerous and ‘imaginary’ time, ‘it’, speculates on the future and a course of action; flight or fight. All the processes work in parallel and are extremely quick offering the antelope a better hope for survival. The human brain works the same but offers more options. The example, however, demonstrates the intimate connection between the three modes of time and the extra dimensions I suggest.

For more information on how the dimensions of time impact on our lives please download my book, ‘SPIRITUAL MAN: AN INTRODUCTION TO NEGATIVE DIMENSIONS’ from Kindle or Kobo.