by Robert D. Twitchell

Created on: January 11, 2008

Does time exist without a clock?

The question of whether time exists in a real or relative sense is more of a philosophical exercise than scientific and must be considered on that level.

While it is true that only living beings can perceive the passage of time, the fact is that time must exist apart from those perceptions in order for living beings to exist. If there were no living beings in the universe molecules and energy would continue to vibrate and interact within the confines of space and each of those interactions require the passage of time. Time has to have existed since the birth of the universe and the passage of that time has lead to the formation of stars, planets, and living beings that can perceive the passage of time. In a real sense time must be considered a force of nature like gravity.

If a timeless, supreme deity could observe the universe from the outside as if watching a movie that being could observe the passage of time within that universe (whether living beings were present or not) by seeing the birth and death of stars and other such phenomenon. Each moment in time would be like a single frame in that movie. If time did not exist as a real force then the supreme being would not be seeing a movie but only a single picture from that movie.

The idea that time does not exist without a living being to perceive it cannot possibly be true because without the force of time molecules and energy would simply remain suspended in space. Molecular interactions and energy vibrations can only occur during the passage of time within the confines of space and those interactions and vibrations make it possible for everything to exist and operate, including the brains of a living beings. In order for the brain of a living being to perceive anything, including the passage of time, then molecules and energy must be able to vibrate and move.

Time must exist in a real sense as a force of nature in order for any kind of molecular interactions or energy vibrations to occur.

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