8. Conclusions and Directions for Further Research
Long-term implications for the physical theory of time and the philosophy of consciousness.
Potential applications in policy design, education, and spiritual technology.
1. IntroductionÂ
a. The Problem of Time in the History of Thought
Time is the oldest mystery that never gets old. Since the first man raised his head to look at the stars, the awareness of time has been the seed of philosophy, science, mythology, and spirituality. But instead of finding certainty, each era has added layers of complexity to the meaning of time.
In classical philosophy,Plato View time as moving image of eternity, created by the Demiurge to regulate the physical world order. Meanwhile,Aristotle define time more concretely as amount of movement according to before and after, by linking it to change and continuity.
Centuries later, in a theological framework,Saint Augustinehonestly admitting his confusion: "If no one asks me about the time, I know what it is. But if I am asked and have to explain, I don't know."For him, the past and the future do not really exist; only the present in the soul---consciousness---is real. He asserts that time is not an objective entity, but distended soul---soul stretching.
Entering the modern era,Isaac Newtonbrings time into the absolute and mathematical realm. He distinguishes between real time(absolute and flowing evenly) with relative time(which appears in phenomena). Time in Newton's view is an empty container that ticks constantly, regardless of matter and consciousness.
However, this paradigm was shaken byAlbert Einstein, which relativizes time through the theory of relativity. In the Minkowski space-time framework, time is not only relative to velocity and gravity, but becomes a fourth dimension that is one with space. There is nonow universal-only incidentin space-time. From here the idea was bornblock universe, where the past, present, and future have been There is, it just depends on the observer's point of view.
Meanwhile, Henri Bergsonopposes this physicalization of time. He distinguishes between time(physical time) and duration(internal duration, conscious time). For Bergson, true time cannot be measured, it can only be experienced. This view opens the door to a phenomenological approach byEdmund Husserl And Martin Heidegger, which places time as the structure of being-in-the-world (Dasein). Heidegger even states that"time is the horizon of understanding existence itself."
However, in contemporary physics, especially in quantum mechanics and cosmology, time has become a puzzle again. Does time flow or is it just an illusion of consciousness? Is there an objective arrow of time, or does everything depend on entropy? Why does time appear in macroscopic theories but disappear in the time-symmetric Schrdinger equation?
And on a biological, psychological, and social level, time is no less confusing. Humans live in a time that is never absolute: it feels fast when happy, slow when waiting, fragmented in the digital world, and loses its rhythm in industrial society.
