Time and Infinity
Geoffrey Moore
Author, speaker, advisor, best known for Crossing the Chasm, Zone to Win and The Infinite Staircase. Board Member of nLight, WorkFusion, and Phaidra. Chairman Emeritus Chasm Group & Chasm Institute.
This opens a set of three questions Microsoft CoPilot posed about time and infinity, the first of which is Does time exist independently, or is it a human construct? I have written about this topic previously, and I am going to use this opportunity to present an updated version of that post.
For all my life, I have been taught that time is the fourth dimension in a space-time continuum. I mean, for goodness’ sake, Einstein said this was so, and all of physics has followed his lead. Nonetheless, I want to argue that, while the universe may indeed have four dimensions, time is not one of them, nor is it a fundamental element of reality. That is, in terms of the question posed, time is indeed a human construct that does not exist independently.
Before you think I have really jumped off the deep end, let me just say that my claim is that motion is a fundamental element of reality, and it is the one that time is substituting for. This is based simply on observation. That is, we can observe and measure mass. We can observe and measure space. We can observe and measure energy. We can observe and measure motion. Time, on the other hand, is simply a tool we have developed to measure motion. That is, motion is fundamental, and time is derived.
Consider where our concept of time came from. It started with three distinct units—the day, the month, and the year. Each is based on a cyclical motion—the earth turning around its axis, the moon encircling the earth, the earth and moon encircling the sun. All three of these cyclical motions have the property of returning to their starting point. They repeat, over and over and over. That’s how they came to our attention in the first place.
If we call this phenomenon cyclical time, we can contrast it with linear time. The latter is time we experience as passing, the one to which we apply the terms past, present, and future. But in fact, what is passing is not time but motion, motion we are calibrating by time. That is, we use the cyclical units of time to measure the linear distance between any given motion and a reference location.
As discussed in The Infinite Staircase, by virtue of the Big Bang, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and the ongoing rush to greater and greater entropy, the universe is inherently in motion. Everything is moving all the time. Motion is intrinsic to our experience of life, much more so than time. As babies we have no sense of time, but we immediately experience mass, space, energy, and motion.
Because mass, space, energy, and motion are core to our experience, we have developed tools to help us engage with them strategically. We can weigh mass and reshape it in myriad ways to serve our ends. We can measure space using anything as a standard length and create structures of whatever size and shape we need. We can measure energy in terms of temperature and pressure and manipulate it to move all kinds of masses through all kinds of spaces. And we can measure motion through space by using standard units of time.
The equation for so doing is typically written as v = d/t. This equation makes us believe that velocity is a concept derived from the primitives of distance and time. But a more accurate way of looking at reality is to say t = d/v. That is, we can observe distance and motion, from which we derive time. If you have a wristwatch with a second hand, this is easily confirmed. A minute consists of a wand traveling through a fixed angular distance, 360o , at a constant velocity set by convention, in this case the International System of Units, these days atomically calibrated by a specified number of oscillations of cesium. Time is derived by dividing a given distance by a given velocity.
OK, so what? Here, the paths of philosophy and physics diverge, with me being able to pursue the former but not the latter. Before parting, however, I would like to ask the physicists in the room, should there be any, a question: If one accepted the premise that motion was the fourth dimension, not time, such that we described the universe as a continuum of spacemotion instead of spacetime, would that make any difference? Specifically, with respect to Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity, are we just substituting terms here, or are there material consequences? I would love to learn what you think.
At my end, I am interested in the philosophical implications of this question, specifically in relation to phenomenology, the way we experience time. To begin, I want to take issue with the following definition of time served up by Google:
a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future.
From my perspective, this is just wrong. It calls for using events to measure time. The correct approach would focus on using time to measure motion, describing the situation as follows:
a continuum of motion that can be measured in terms of time as one event succeeds another from a position of higher energy to one of lower energy.
The motive for this redefinition is to underscore that the universe is always in motion, following the Second Law of thermodynamics, perpetually seeking to cool itself down by spreading itself out. We here on Earth are born into the midst of that action, boats set afloat upon that river, moving with the current on the way to a sea of ultimate cooldown. We can go with the flow, we can paddle upstream, we can even divert the river of entropy to syphon off energy to do work. The key point to register is that regardless of what we do or do not do, motion abides, inexorably following the arrow of entropy, moving from hot to cold until heat death is achieved.
Motion is a primary dimension of the universe—there can be no standing still. Phenomenologically, this is quite different from the traditional time-based perspective. In a universe of space and time, events have to be initiated, and one can readily imagine a time with no events, a time when nothing happens, maybe something along the lines of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. In a universe of space and motion, however, that is impossible. There are always events, and we are always in the midst of doing. A couch potato is as immersed in events as a racecar driver. Or, to paraphrase Milton, they also move who only stand and wait.
A second consequence of the spacemotion continuum is that there is no such thing as eternity and no such thing as infinity. Nothing can exist outside the realm of change, and the universe is limited to whatever amount of energy was released at the Big Bang. Now, to be fair, from a phenomenological perspective, the dimensions of the universe are so gigantic that, experientially, they might as well be infinite and eternal. But from a philosophical perspective, the categories of eternity and infinity are not ontologically valid. They are asymptotes, not entities.
Needless to say, all this flies in the face of virtually every religion that has ever taken root in human history. As someone deeply committed to traditional ethics, I am grateful to all religions for supporting ethical action and an ethical mindset. If there were no other way to secure ethics, then I would opt for religion for sure. But we know a lot more about the universe today than we did several thousand years ago, and so there is at least an opportunity to forge a modern narrative, one that can find in secular metaphysics a foundation for traditional values. That’s what The Infinite Staircase is seeking to do.
That’s what I think. What do you think?
Experienced Software-Developer
6dEmergent Time in Consciousness Premise: Time does not exist independently; it emerges from consciousness that can store and compare sequential states. Definitions: M_t = mental state at current observation t M_(t-1) = stored state representing previous moment Delta_M = M_t - M_(t-1) = perceived change Time as a function of memory difference: T = f(Delta_M) = f(M_t - M_(t-1)) Where T is the emergent subjective time experienced by consciousness. Properties: 1. Memory-dependent: Without stored states (M_(t-1)), past/future perception vanishes. 2. Change-dependent: If Delta_M = 0, no flow of time is perceived. 3. Observer-dependent: Time exists only relative to a conscious observer evaluating Delta_M. Implication: Physically, all states coexist in a block-universe sense. Consciousness orders states linearly, generating subjective arrow of time. Memory acts as temporal reference vector, enabling emergent causality and temporal awareness. Optional extension: Subjective time can be weighted by significance of change: T_s = g(Delta_M, S(Delta_M)) where S(Delta_M) captures which state changes are meaningful. Explains why trivial changes may feel instant, while meaningful experiences seem slow or fast.
X ray Technician and Computer at St Dominic Basic Health Services
1wThank you for this understanding and indeed motion is measure time but time is not motion. So space motion is infinite unmeasurable in times as it carries infinity in it.
Bridging AI, Creativity, and Ethical Technology
2wBeautifully written, Geoffrey. The Infinite Staircase and this reflection on Time and Infinity planted seeds that continue to unfold for me. You could say the “passage of time” is a meta-meme—a story humanity tells itself to make experience feel continuous. One of our most enduring constructs: part physics, part psychology, part poetry. Thank you for the nudge to pause and consider that even time itself may be something we participate in, not merely observe.
Multidisciplinary Designer & Visual Artist | Exploring Mathematics, Metallurgy & Astronomy
3wExistence moves. Forms change, decay, and end. Motion is visible, yet it needs a reference to be understood, a language of measure but not fundamental, like time I agree. Zero gives meaning to number, and the constant gives meaning to change. Yet motion itself requires an origin, an absolute, the Supreme One beyond the coordinates of space and time. The ratios we call beautiful, Fibonacci, the golden mean, even our own bodies, are only shadows of His order. The Big Bang was not the cause, only the beginning of a process that required a beginning which itself needs no beginning. It simply is, unreachable to the human mind yet undeniably REAL. Language of numbers quietly point to something greater than themselves. Freed from chaos minds find symmetry. All motion and existence come only from the sustained by none but Himself. Mathematics teaches balance; humanity gives it meaning. We, fragile and finite creation, were never meant to rule. Now I think I need some water after these kind of heavy words, my source of life, flowing by a law I did not write and giving life I cannot create. 🍋🥤 Imagine if He the One say, "Have you considered: if your water to become sunken into the earth, then who could bring you flowing water?"
Inc 5000 CEOs Leading the Future with Executive Abundance | Exec Coach: Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches | #1 Thought Leader in Ecosystems | 2x TEDx Speaker | Intl Bestseller 65 Books | x-Public Board Member
3wFascinating framing, Geoffrey Moore. Seeing time as a tool for measuring motion shifts the whole lens. It reminds us that change is constant, that life is always in motion whether we notice it or not. Your exploration opens space for both physics and philosophy to reimagine how we experience the universe.