This is my theory of the non-existence of time.

Time is said to be the fourth dimension. I am going to introduce a new idea. Time is not a dimension. Time is not a thing at all. Time does not exist.

What do we know about time?

Well the first thing we know is it is hard to discuss time without referencing time. Time is integral to the way we think. So please excuse some of the circular references, I am sure you understand why.

Time moves forward. We can’t back it up, not for even a femtosecond. We also know time is dependent on gravity. As we move out of the gravity well of Earth time speeds up.

We have learned two things about time

We know time can be influenced. And, without time nothing could change. The universe and everything in it would be static.

But what is it actually. What makes yesterday different from today. What makes a second ago different from now?

The answer is surprisingly simple. Everything!

The entire universe changed dramatically in the last second and we barely noticed it. The universe you live in this very second is different to the one you were in just a moment ago. At this point you are probably thinking uh oh crazy guy. But if you will just ponder it for a moment you will know I am right.

It is different because every atom has changed, every photon has moved, every energetic action has changed. The sun and all stars have changed, planets have moved, wind has blown, electrons have moved (in an indeterminate way). Everything is different.

So now you see what I mean by the entire universe has changed. Everything in it is slightly different.

And that took time to happen! Or at least that’s the way we think of it.

Without time nothing could change. The universe and everything in it would be static.

So far all I have done is reconfirm what we call time. So now we will explore the theory of the non-existence of time.

Imagine this. Every single molecule in your body stopped moving. Every atom stopped vibrating, every electron stopped spinning. Nothing moved, absolutely nothing. Now imagine this continued for a year of everyone else’s time. For one year of normal time you were in a completely motionless state.

After twelve months, everything resumed moving. How much time would have passed for you? None, that’s right, between stopping and starting no time passed. You didn’t age, you didn’t breathe, your hair didn’t grow, and your thoughts resumed exactly where they stopped.

For you not even one second of time had passed, while for the rest of us time marched on a full twelve months.

Did you time travel?

I am going to take what I said before and change it just by one word.

Without motion nothing could change. The universe and everything in it would be static.

So time is really synonymous with motion. In fact what we call time is just our way of measuring motion. If so then why does time move at different rates dependant on the strength of gravity?

It helps to understand how we ultimately measure time. At the most precise level we measure time by counting the vibrations of an atom. An atom that vibrates at a very stable rate.

Atoms are influenced by gravity. It is my contention that the vibration of the atom changes based on the strength of the gravity field it is in. All matter changes based on the gravity field it is in. Because space changes based on the strength of gravity. Therefore a clock in orbit runs at a different rate than a clock on earth. Measuring the difference would make you think the rate of time was different. But it is not, just the rate of vibration is different.

Ultimately does this theory of the non-existence of time change anything? No it doesn’t, time is still a very important measure of the rate of change around us.

What it does do though is answer one question!

Can we time travel?

Yes we can, by influencing the rate of change of everything in our vicinity. My fanciful example above of a complete atomic stasis is one way, changing the gravity field is another way, although it is measured in fractions of a second. Possibly high speed close to the speed of light will work.

This though is a one way ticket. We can only ever go forward by slowing our personal clock (motion). We can never go back again, there is nothing to go back to. Because there is no such thing as time.

Time is not the fourth dimension. Time is what we humans use to measure motion.