Can we survive without the concept of time?

Is time really a necessary concept? Can someone go on living without the concept of time? Is there any other way to look at the concept of time?

I think homeless people know how this feels...

reply to post by fordrew



There would be no way to make any kind of "plans".
In fact w/o some concept of time, looking at history isn't really possible

get rid of the light and time doesn't exist adios.

reply to post by ElOmen


Even homeless ppl use time to find out when/where food will be given way or when a shelter opens.

reply to post by fordrew


At this point in time yes, obviously time is a necessary force. If you are asking if conscious beings could survive, reason and exist without time then yes I believe it is possible but the the idea of such a thing is so far beyond what most people can imagine. I would love to give you a more in depth response but now is not the best time for such a thing.


P.S I think this is a really great question..

Yes we can ! However the definition of 'survival' will radically change. For survival shall be measured in terms of productivity instead of 'life span', we are almost at that stage now as often you will hear people say 'oh he's making a good living', soon it shall be 'oh hes surviving well'. What our reality shall be like is beyond our perceptions, it would be like trying to describe self awareness to something that isn't self aware IMHO

No we can not..... there will be some measure of time in any form... watching moon cycles " harvest time" you will watch the sun to know when to prepare for night..basically earth runs in cycles and are a factor of time between each cycle ec..... so no! we will and have always lived based on a timeline it's on how you monitor it... that will change.... but to monitor the day by a watch/clock that is not needed in the least.

i doubt we can, i think we would be the only species on earth that did if we did,

i mean.. Birds fly south, fish migrate, butterflys emerge from cacoons etc. etc. this is all due to cycles of sun, weather, tempeture, moon which is essentially what our time is based on,

time - based on progression of sun (and moon) across our skys

Months - moon progressions

Seaons - weather changes

so we put a number to these earth/space functions but really they are needed cycles that we run through...


so in my opinion nothing on earth could survive without time (it may be summed up in a diffrent way but always there)

Since we are bound by temporal perception, the concept of time will always exist in some form or fashion, unless we have no sensory perception whatsoever, in which case we would likely die. In death, the concept of time is likely nonexistent (or rather there is no time because it is always NOW, and we perceive, if we do in fact perceive, no concept or awareness of past present future as we do when we are bound, but a constant state of present, NOW, with no delineation).

Not sure we can "live" without perceiving or being aware of "time," and if we "rename" it the concept of passage will still be present (pun not intended).

I always had a nightmare as a young child about being in a place without the existence of time or even light. It was a very horrible thought or state of mind that just when I would start to realize it, I would somehow manage to wake up. It was so bad that there was nothing but my conscious awareness and that is it. I can try to explain it as a place where no time or feelings exist, your mind is awake and alone but there is nothing else. To me this seemed like being in a place of eternal darkness with no purpose or meaning there, just in limbo. I was so glad when I woke up and realized that I was me and not there, that I had a life and purpose here.

Originally posted by fordrew
Is time really a necessary concept?

It has always been a very important aspect of human existence (and to a lesser extent animals as well). We need to know when to eat, sleep, wake up and head to bed. Without the concept of time, these things would be very difficult to achieve.

Can someone go on living without the concept of time?

Technically speaking we could survive without time, but our lives would be very much more chaotic and stressful. There would be no real structure to our lives.

Is there any other way to look at the concept of time?

There are multiple ways to look at the concept of time. Time can be the numbers on your clock, the hands on your watch, the position of the sun in the sky, the position of the moon. It can be the wrinkles on your face, the sunspots on your arm, the cracks on your hands. It can be the quality of paint on the wall or the number of nails sticking out. Time can be measured in so many ways.

When I was taking psychology...we watched a video of an experiment that involved time deprivation.

I think time is absolutely necessary for life.

I tried to find the video on youtube...but I think it is one that is only published for academic purposes.

The experiment was relatively simple...this man went into a cave where the sunlight would not be a factor...and video taped the entire time...something like 15 days or something like that.

I'll keep searching for it and if I find it I'll get it posted.

reply to post by jerryznv


Some info

The research field now known as chronobiology deals with the body’s biological rhythms: the way that it generates its physiological oscillations and keeps its various systems synchronized.

thebrain.mcgill.ca...

An Interview with Michel Siffre
www.cabinetmagazine.org...

13. Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
This module covers our natural rhythms and the stages that occur during sleep. It shows the brain's electrical activity over the course of a normal night's sleep, with its REM and non-REM cycles. The remainder of the module is devoted to an experiment conducted by Michel Siffre, a French cave explorer, in which Siffre spends seven months in a Texas cave. Without external cues, the body is shown to have its own built-in clock.

The brain teaching modules Produced by Colorado State University. 1997.
www.learner.org...

Originally posted by aivlas
reply to post by jerryznv

 

Some info

The research field now known as chronobiology deals with the body’s biological rhythms: the way that it generates its physiological oscillations and keeps its various systems synchronized.

thebrain.mcgill.ca...

An Interview with Michel Siffre
www.cabinetmagazine.org...

Yep thats it...thanks for sharing the links.

It's been a long time since those classes...and I couldn't remember much about it...so nice refresher!

reply to post by fordrew



Life without concept of time necessitates Eternity exclusively in either light or darkness but not both. Eternal life anyone?

Since time is only a concept. the answer is yes. Only humans conceptulize.
Time was invented to get you up in the morning to go to work, it is a form of control.

Putting someone in a cave with no light is light deprevation, not time deprevation. If time is believed to be real then how would it be possible to remove it just by putting someone in the dark?

Well, I was a working man for a great many years, and had to live my life by a clock. When I got disabled, and spent most of my time at home, I stopped worrying about what time it is. I read a book once called "Longitude," which explained how a clock had to be invented so sailors could navigate on the High Seas. Then the Industrial Age came about, and men had to be told when you go to work, and when they got off work, and so on. People have fallen into time, just like a lot of other things shoved down their collective throats. Time is no linear either, it is circular. It repeats.

reply to post by Itisnowagain


Time or (perceived progression over space) is not just a concept someone created to control us but is a perceived reality inherent to us all because of the circadian rhythm brought about by the rising and setting of light. So, even though your assessment of being put into a cave as being light deprived and not time deprived is accurate, after the human body has gone so long without light it will die. Therefore time is not only a perception based on light but also on duration between life and death which is why I speculate Life without Time necessitates Eternity in either light or dark but not both. "Eternity" meaning freedom from duration between life and death, and also freedom from duration between light and dark.

reply to post by HeFrippedMeOff


Time is no more than a thought about 'another' time. There is no time, there is only what is present. No other animal has to deal with any other time but now. Humans are troubled by time because they think there is not enough, it is the belief in lack.
But the concept of time can be useful.