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‘No Time but Moments’ On the Discrete Nature
of Temporal Awareness Time has
been a perennial subject of philosophical inquiry. From Aristotle’s flaky
notion of time as the measure of motion, to Kant’s dodgy claim that time is
an a priori form of intuition, to Bergson’s naïve conception of durée as
lived flow, philosophers have wrestled with the question of whether time is
something objectively real, subjectively constructed, or both. The
druid’s minim “No time but moments” represents a radical position:
that time as commonly conceived—a continuous stream or flow—is illusory (Scheinzeit, seeming time), and that what actually
exists are discrete, momentary units (alias quanta or ‘grains’) of
awareness, each arising as observer response to a discrete quantum of impact. Here the
druid sets out the reasoning behind this position, illustrates it with
examples, and situates it within the broader philosophical and cognitive
context. I. The Discrete Impact Consider
first the idea that awareness does not occur as a smooth continuum but in
response to specific impacts. Each such impact—whether a sound, a
flash of light, a thought—occurs as a decided, hence complete event, i.e., as
a quantum. For
example, imagine sitting in a quiet room when a clock chimes. The sudden
sound is an impact, creating a distinct moment of awareness. Once the chime
ends, the next moment arises only when the next impact—say, a bird’s
call—occurs. Even if there is no striking stimulus, the internal state of the
nervous system itself is always fluctuating in discrete ways: neuronal
firings happen in quantal patterns. Each alteration triggers a moment of
consciousness. Hence,
from this perspective, time does not “flow” through the mind like a
river (and which actually consists of discrete drops of water). Rather, the
mind becomes aware only in a succession of discrete instants, each evoked by
a fresh impact (i.e., of about 1 billion external impacts per second). II. The Seeming Continuity of Time (Scheinzeit) If
experience consists of isolated moments, why does time feel continuous? The
answer lies in Scheinzeit—illusory time, or
seeming time. The human
cognitive system has evolved powerful mechanisms that generate coherence and
integration. When many moments arise in rapid succession, the observer’s
cognitive set-up, as Guide & Control System, infers continuity. For
instance: ·
Motion perception: A movie
is a series of still images projected at ~24 frames per second. Each frame is
a discrete impact, yet the observer experiences them as flowing motion. ·
Sound perception: A rapid
sequence of discrete auditory signals can fuse into a continuous tone. In these
cases, the observer does not directly perceive the discrete impacts as
separate; instead, the brain imposes a synthesis—a superimposition—constructing
a subjective stream of time, hence unbroken continuity that serves as basic
parameter that supports survival. Thus,
what we call the flow of time is a function of our cognitive apparatus—a
heuristic that stitches discrete events into a continuous narrative. III. Time as Personal Inference Critically,
the observer never encounters the actual impact as a distinct, autonomous
entity, i.e., as a noumenon. He perceives only the response generated in his
own, hence unique cognitive data processing unit. The event “out there” is
mediated by the observer’s cognitive system’s receptors, filters, delays, and
transformations. For
example: ·
When you see a falling cup, the light waves
strike your retina, transduce into electrical signals, and undergo
milliseconds of processing before you become aware of “the falling cup.” ·
If you then recall the cup falling, your memory
system reconstructs a representation based on stored traces—not the impact
itself. Therefore,
the experience of time is not an observation of external events in their raw
state but a personal inference. That inference depends on the
observer’s DNA, meaning biology, his data selection range and sensitivity,
his quality of attention, his very personal data processing and internal
analogue transformation set-up and his specifically oriented survival algorithm. In other
words: There is
no universal time flowing independently of observers; there is only the
sequence of momentary impacts as interpreted within each observer’s unique
cognitive system. IV. The Logical Conclusion Putting
these observations together: 1. Discrete
Impacts: All moments of awareness arise in response to discrete
impacts. 2. Discrete
Moments: Each impact produces the response of a distinct
momentary awareness, interpreted as time. 3. Seeming
Continuity: The apparent flow of time is a superimposed synthesis
(Scheinzeit). 4. Personal
Inference: Time, as flow, is not directly observed but inferred
from the quantity of moments. Conclusion: Time (and
its corollary, space) as an independent continuum is illusory. What is real,
for the observer, are the actual discrete moments of awareness. ‘No
time but moments.’ V. Illustrative Example: The Flash Bulb Consider
the experience of seeing a camera flash in a dark room. The flash is
instantaneous—a pure impact. For a brief interval, you are aware of the
illuminated scene. Then, the light is gone, and your awareness shifts to an
afterimage or to darkness. If you
try to pinpoint the duration of the flash itself, you find it impossible to
measure in direct experience; it is simply there, then not there.
The continuity you impose—“it lasted about half a second”—is a mental
construct that links together the onset, the persistence of the afterimage,
and the fading of sensation. Your actual experience, however, is a sequence
of discrete impressions. VI.
Implications If, as
the druid claims. there is ‘no time but moments’: ·
The past is nothing but traces, quantum sequences
presenting in memory. ·
The future is an uncertain projection of
anticipation into random possibilities. ·
The present itself is not an extended duration
but a point-like awareness. This
challenges everyday notions of time as a flowing river. Instead, the personal
experience, as private invention, of time is more like a staccato series of
flashes, woven together by interpretive habit adapted to support personal
survival. VII. Concluding Reflection While
this view may feel counterintuitive—after all, our lives feel continuous—it
offers a compelling lens on the structure of consciousness and its basic
function. By recognizing the discreteness of impacts and the inferential
nature of time, we see that “time” is less an objective medium and more a
personal (or species) survival supportive substrate constructed by the
cognitive apparatus. Thus, in
the final analysis, we are left with the druid’s simplest and starkest
formulation: ‘No
time but moments.’ |