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| Credit: Mental Floss |
We haven't got much time to talk about time. Time is something special about this world. All things are bound by time. In the next world we think of time as not existing in the same way. The concept is of eternity. Therefore this world will soon be over, so let's get on with it.
When my aunt suggested I had my teeth straightened, I think I shocked her when I said "it will be a waste of time, I don't plan on living that long". The optician assured us that the £1000 horn rimed glasses would last a lifetime. I said- "not very good value then." The older you get, the less attractive 'things' become. The moment is far more important.
The only bit of life that really exists is the spit second of this moment. All else is in the past, or yet to come. This moment can be anticipated, and it can be remembered, but that's about it.
Current models for the time humans have been around put it at about 150 thousand years (give or take which website you read). Neanderthals, who humans may or may not relate to, are said to have been around from 130 thousand to 400,000 years (Natural History Museum).
Organised religion of the modern era has been around for 4000 to 5000 years.
The current thinking about the origins of our solar system is that it is 4,6 billion years old. The idea is that a giant cloud of dust became unstable and collapse in on itself, rushing together to create the big bang.
The earth got into a giddy spin, but it is slowing down now. It may be that in the past the rotation of the earth occurred much more quickly. A year would have happened in a week. The whole evolutionary process may have happened on fast forward. Perhaps the creationists are correct after all. It all happened in 4000 years.
The expanding universe, where is it expanding into? Does it sit like a marble in the palm of God's hand? We cannot conceive of a universe without edges. Perhaps edges and time go together.
Anyway, I think that is enough for now.
