Time

Time, is flowing like a river...

I prefer the idea that time flows better than the more common saying that time flies. But my idea of time flowing is not even that of a river, which flows too freely and rapidly. Actually, it's not time that is flowing at all, but the world that is flowing as time goes by. It flows slowly, very slowly, almost imperceptibly. One day follows the other, weeks succeed each other, and nothing seems to change very much, if at all. It's only by means of a fast forward, or a fast rewind through pictures, videos or documents more than ten years old, that the change is noticed, and how.

Let's rewind by a few hundred years, to the time of the Renaissance. It hardly seems like the same world at all. It's almost like a different planet, or an imaginary reality. And yet, it was as real as we feel real now. Change then was also imperceptible, but it did happen, proceeding along, year after year, going on into centuries, until we arrived up to this point. Except that it wasn't we then, and that's one very relevant factor of change. Not only does the landscape, the townscape, the culture, the countries' borders, the leaders, the way of life, change. The actors themselves get older, the older ones die, and children grow up and themselves become the main actors in society.

I have myself experienced the fast forward effect of the passage of time. When I left my previous job five years ago, I made it a point to revisit my ex colleagues every now and then. The first time it was as if I'd never left, we got along so well and joked about this and that as all friends do. The second time, there were a couple of new employees there, who didn't know me, but I didn't mind, and I again had a great time with my ex colleagues. After a few visits, a good proportion of the employees at my previous workplace didn't know me, and I discovered the considerable effect of the passage of just a handful of years.

This gradual, almost imperceptible change happens everywhere, in all walks of life.

On a grander scale, we have life itself. The baby becomes a child. If she is lucky and happens to be born in a developed society, she receives education according to the norms of the time, and enters adulthood, gradually establishing herself as an active member of society for several decades. She notices newcomers establishing themselves, and older members of society retiring. Eventually it's her turn to retire, and then, what? Hopefully, she will remain active, and will give her contribution to society up till the end of her life.

And still, time keeps on flowing, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, the face of the world as we knew it changes beyond recognition. In just a hundred years, our society will consist of an entirely different set of people. Who knows, maybe someone will even be reading these words...

But what, exactly, is the nature of time? Well, to mention just one example: it's time to go to bed. This question I will hopefully explore another time.