[Buddha-l] Time Is Not Real

[Michael LaTorra]

The work of Kurt Gödel on the nature of time is of interest here.
 
In "A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy Of Godel And Einstein"
by Palle Yourgrau, there is a fascinating discussion of how Gödel derived a 
solution for Einstein's relativity equations in which a rotating (not cycling, 
but turning on its access) universe would permit closed, timelike curves, 
which means time travel.

Gödel then discussed time using McTaggert's notion of time-series A (the 
feeling of "now" in the present moment) and time-series B (the historical 
timeline, in which one was born on a certain date and has a date with one's 
dentist tomorrow at 9 am). If time travel is possible, then Gödel concluded 
that time-series A -- our sense of "nowness" -- is an illusion.

Our universe, by the way, has not been shown to be rotating, so perhaps 
Gödel's result does not apply to us. He argues, however, that there is no 
reason to believe that the special case he has examined is different from the 
general case of all universes.

This is quite a remarkable conclusion, in my opinion, because our (or at 
least "my") sense of things is that the present moment is all there is. Maybe 
that's just my delusion. Or is it yours too? Is the notion of time passing the 
ultimate "maya"? 

Regards,

Michael LaTorra

mlatorra at nmsu.edu

Department of English
New Mexico State University
MSC 3E
PO Box 30001
Las Cruces, NM 88003