Part II
Time is associated with events and recognized by us against those events. So we can measure it in that practical manner, as a measure of events that we accept as evidence of our experience. Our experience takes place in terms of temporary circumstance. A given state of our circumstance gives way to the new state as time tics on.
Time has direction that is from a past to the now, with expectations of continuing into the future. As time passes we accept that the current circumstance comes to us from a before state, which came from a state of before that, etc. etc. etc. moment to moment.
This gives us two practical scenarios that both lend themselves to an acceptance of eternity:
1) Time extends in a never ending direction into past states that we have not yet been able to explain through scientific observation.
2) Time extends to a first tic but not before that. The only way this can be explained is if temporal experience was kicked off at the same tic. If time did not extend further into the past than the first tic, then what ever was responsible for the kickoff was not bound by the rules of temporal experience that came as a result of the kickoff.
Neither of the these rational explanations for eternity can be proven using the scientific method of practical experience. However, I note that scientific method does not disprove them and does not offer its own explanation for the extensions of time further than cause and effect of time and experience.
Scientific method recognizes limitations of cause and effect temporal experience without being bound to an explanation of a before the beginnings. So in this sense, scientific method recognizes that it has limits. Limits always help to define what is outside of those limitations. For example a tree may have moisture acquired from rain. However a tree is limited, so we can, with confidence, declare that a raindrop outside the tree is not a tree at all. Likewise whatever produced the qualities of time and experience could be outside the limiting definitions of time and experience.
There is a third explanation that we call the eternal moment that is a complimentary rationale.
Now, having said that it makes rational sense to me and I've shown how I understand that rational. I can also declare that I know something through evidence that on the one hand seems to be self evident a priori for me and on the other hand I can apply logic that also seems sensible(to me).
Will time have an end? Who knows?
We can speculate with confidence that our unique individual experiences in time will end since we observe that condition in all creatures. Will time as a phenomenon in general end? Since all evidence in temporal existence is of beginnings and endings we could speculate that time is no different and/or apply the same rational that I used in 1) and 2) above.
What about eternal life for any one specific being? Well, it would have to be in other than a material sense which is, of course, corruptible and conditional. And what sort of "life" would not be? It likely would have no substance; therefore no thoughts arising from neuronal activity.
However, if there is experience beyond what we have observed in temporal life, there may be unique qualities that we wont be able to fathom until in or of that realm. As with a rain drop, you would have to look outside the limitations of a tree to see how moisture is not dependent on its enmeshment within the tree. Since we cannot see outside our temporal experience until we have left its limitations, we are bound by patience and hope or nothing at all.
There is also the multiple universe theory of eternity but lets not do that right now. |
