Page 62 - New Research Demolishes Evolution

RELATIVITY OF TIME AND THE REALITY OF FATE

ime is also a kind of perception resulting from conclusions we make from our sen-
T sory experience. This perception occurs as a result of apparently consecutive events
taking place. We perceive the flow of time by comparing the changes in motions we
observe one with another. We hear the door ringing, for instance. Ten minutes later it
rings again. We perceive that there is an interval between the first ring and second, and
interpret this interval as "time". Alternatively, a glass falls and breaks, coal burns and
becomes ashes, we walk and find ourselves in one corner of the room while a moment
ago we were in the opposite corner. The time passing between these causes and effects
and the movements we observe around us gives us clues about the passage of time. Our
past experiences also provide us clues enabling us to make almost accurate estimates
about how much time an event needs to takes place. If we measure that it takes 10 min-
utes to walk from home to the nearest bus station, we can assume that it will take approx-
imately 10 minutes to walk the same distance again. Yet someone who is asked how long
it takes to walk this distance will probably have little idea if he has never walked that dis-
tance before, except according to his experience of having walked similar distances.
The sun rises, sets and by the time it again rises the next day, we say, "a day passed
by." When this process is repeated for 30 or 31 days, we say this time, "A month passed."
Yet, if you were asked about that month, you would confess that the whole month passed
like a moment, realising that you do not recall many details about that month. Still, all
the cause and effect relations together with all the actions we observe give us clues about
time. If night did not follow day and we did not have a watch indicating the time, we
would probably arrive at erroneous conclusions about how many minutes or hours
passed by or when the day begins and ends. That is why time is, in fact, a perception we
can never comprehend without the existence of points of comparison.
The way time's flow is perceived also shows that time is only a psychological per-
ception. While you are waiting for your friend in the middle of a street, a ten minutes'
delay seems like a long, almost everlasting period of time. Alternatively, a person who
hasn't had enough sleep at night may perceive a ten minutes' nap in the morning as very
long and relaxing. Sometimes just the contrary happens. At school, a boring forty min-
utes' lesson may seem to be like ages while a ten minutes break passes very quickly. Or,
you perceive the weekend you impatiently await as a very short period of time while
working days seem long.
No doubt, these are the feelings, shared by almost everyone, indicating that time
changes according to the one who perceives it and his state.
Allah, in the Qur'an, draws our attention to the fact that time is a psychological per-
ception:

THE COLLAPSE OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION
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