Page 83 - Timelessness and the Reality of Fate

Relativity of Time and The Reality of Destiny 81

consciousness than can our concepts of colour, shape, or size." According to
the Theory of General Relativity, "time has no independent existence apart
from the order of events by which we measure it." 59
Since time consists of perception, it depends entirely on the perceiver
and is therefore relative.
The speed at which time flows differs according to the references we
use to measure it, because there is no natural clock in the human body to
indicate precisely how fast time passes. As Lincoln Barnett wrote: "Just as
there is no such thing as colour without an eye to discern it, so an instant or
an hour or a day is nothing without an event to mark it." 60
The relativity of time is plainly experienced in dreams. Although what
we see in our dream seems to last for hours, it in fact, lasts for only a few
minutes, or even a few seconds.
Let us take an example to further clarify the subject. Imagine that, for a
certain unspecified period of time, we are locked up in a room with a single,
specially designed window from which we can see the setting and rising of
the sun, and that we have a clock by which to judge the passage of time. Afew
days later, our estimate of the time spent in the room will be based on our
periodic clock – watching and our noting of how often the sun rose and set. At
the end of our period of confinement, we come to the conclusion that we have
spent three days in the room. But then our "captor" reveals that in reality if
was only two days. The reason? The "sun" we had been observing had been
artificially projected by a simulation machine and our clock had been regulat-
ed to run faster than normal. So our calculations had no meaning.
This example confirms that the information we have about the rate of
the passage of time is based on relative references. The relativity of time is a
scientific fact also proven by scientific methodology. Einstein's Theory of
General Relativity maintains that the speed of time changes depending on
the speed of the object and its distance from the centre of gravity. As speed
increases, time is shortened, compressed; and slows down as if coming to
the point of "stopping".
Let us explain this with an example given by Einstein himself. Imagine
twins, one of whom stays on earth while the other goes travelling in space at
a speed close to the speed of light. When he comes back, the traveller will
see that his brother has grown much older than he has. The reason is that
time flows much more slowly for the person who travels at speeds near the
speed of light. Similarly, in the case of a space-travelling father and his