Three Meanings of Time
WHAT, THEN, IS TIME?
It is my contention that the word “time” has at least three distinct meanings, and that a significant portion of the obscurity surrounding the concept of time results from the fact that these meanings are commonly confused. In this microessay will try to show the three primary – but clearly distinct – meanings that are attributed to the word “time,” both in everyday conversation and in technical parlance.
Please make note of the fact that I am making no metaphysical or scientific claims about the nature of time: I am, rather, merely attempting to distinguish and clarify the multiple meanings of the word “time.”
I. The Meaning of Time as a unit of measurement.
Anyone old enough to read this microessay knows how to tell time; it is difficult to imagine how an adult could function in life without the ability to tell time. We tell time in minutes and seconds and incredibly brief fractions of a second; we tell time in days and weeks, months and years, decades and centuries. Since early in human development, there have been attempts to keep track of time, at least at the seasonal scale.
Time is always measured in units. The measurements aremostly non-arbitrary, corresponding to some cyclical change in nature; for example, one full moon to the next. Nowadays time can be measured in cycles that cannot be detected without vast and sophisticated technology. The unit of measurement, however, is not identical with time itself, and conflating the meter stick with what is measures can only lead to confusion.
II. Meaning of time as a physical process.
Considered as a physical process – that is, within the context of Physics – time is entropy. But what is entropy? Entropy is the tendency of things to break down, wear out, become disorganized. Nothing lasts very long without maintenance, whether it’s the cleanliness of your bathroom floor to the engine in your truck. It is always necessary to expend energy (work) in order to prevent things from deteriorating.
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Entropy, then is the tendency of systems (whether the system is your toaster oven, your body or the universe) to fall apart. When a system falls apart, it expends energy, when you maintain it or fix it, you expend energy. If energy cannot be destroyed, where does it go? It is dissipated, like heat from a fire, into the cold night sky, into the boundlessness of space. Entropy is the tendency of the universe to run down, like an unwound watch.
III. The Meaning of time as a psychological experience.
I believe that the experience of time may vary by culture. However, at least in the Western world, the psychological experience of time is often one of pressure. When things are going smoothly, we tend not to notice time. When we hit a snag and things slow to a crawl, we begin to worry about tardiness and time is felt as an oppressive physical force. Sometimes our judgment is affected, and we drive too fast.
On those occasions when we are having a perfectly enjoyable time, which must end at some preordained moment, we may notice time as moving too quickly; we may want to slow it down but realize we cannot. The psychological experience of time is famously capable of being very fast or very slow, depending on an individual’s circumstances. However, this psychological experience is itself not to be confused with time.
If pressed to answer scientifically St. Augustine’s ageless question, “What, then, is time?” we would probably be inclined to favor the second item on this list. However, our natural pragmatism and our tendency to find time useful and important in everyday life would incline us toward the metric. And naturally we all believe that when we experience time, what we feel is…, time.
I am led to conclude that “time,” in the broadest sense, is at very least a combination of these three distinct meanings. Or, as philosophers would say it: The components listed in this microessay are necessary – but not necessarily sufficient – conditions for what we typically call “time.” However, let it be noted that failure to keep these components distinct has led to much of the confusion which typically clouds discussions of time.
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