WHAT MAKES TIME SPECIAL?

by Craig Callender

As we navigate through life we instinctively model time as having a flowing present that divides a fixed past from open future. This model develops in childhood and is deeply saturated within our language, thought and behavior, affecting our conceptions of the universe, freedom and the self. Yet as central as it is to our lives, physics seems to have no room for this flowing present. What Makes Time Special? demonstrates this claim in detail and then turns to two novel positive tasks. First, by looking at the world "sideways" - in the spatial directions -- it shows that physics is not "spatializing time" as is commonly alleged. Even relativity theory makes significant distinctions between the spacelike and timelike directions, often with surprising consequences. Second, if the flowing present is an illusion, it is a deep one worthy of explanation. The author develops a picture whereby the temporal flow arises as an interaction effect between an observer and the physics of the
world.

Using insights from philosophy, cognitive science, biology, psychology and physics, the theory claims that the flowing present model of time is the natural reaction to the perceptual and evolutionary challenges thrown at us. Modeling time as flowing makes sense even if it misrepresents it.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Physics

364 pages, Hardcover

Published July 6, 2017

Reviews

[Dave Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, the math gave me a headache. But the philosophy blew my mind! Not for everybody.

[Searnold]

No rating. Alas, this book is way above my pay grade. I did read chapters eleven and one -in that order, actually- however, it was the narcoleptic effect of the math of physics in chapter two that persuaded me to abandon this book.

[Albert-Jan Jorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

No need to be daunted by the math in here, for slightly seasoned philosophy readers or people who have thought about this subject of 'time' before there is enough clarity in the text to follow the main points. Just trust mr. Callender has his maths right, which he explains why he does (or doesn't) so no worries. I found this an enriching and authoritative text on the subject, and like he says himself it is not the standard metaphysics of time you regularly find in those collections or anthologies of time; this is mainly focussed on physics and psychology instead, while only paying attention to the oldskool McTaggart style philosophy at the end for well founded reasons.

I like his theory of time moving sideways (let's say the spacelike direction in the light cone as I understood it, but must revisit). I was afraid I wouldn't understand the Cauchy-problem part (math) of which I had read about earlier in the description of the book. This was what made me read the book as this sounded new and foreign to me, and I found it actually to be the best part. I wonder if he was possibly inspired by Reichenbachs exposition of Feynmans QED with positrons moving 'sideways' as electrons back in time. Surely I must revisit this book after I have gained more understanding of the underlying physics and math, I suspect it might have some hidden gems missed during the first reading.

Thank you mr. Callender for your efforts as I believe this surely was a tour de force, and I wonder if you are still thinking and working on this topic or instead joyfully decided to go paddle boarding instead. It would be well deserved, as this covers a helluva lot of the dimensions (outside of speculative quantum gravity), and my little brain can't imagine a whole lot more effort in compiling these facts.