With what little I know and even littler I understand about the origins of the universe, and of time, I intend to question and hopefully further my understanding of their beginnings. Of course, conveniently, time and space cannot have a beginning because a beginning – as in a specific point in time – implies time existed before time. This is impossible. Thinking based on the idea of unidirectional time disintegrates at singularities, because neither exists in singularities. Therefore it is sensible to propose that time and matter constantly cycle, intertwined in a repetitive expansion toward a singularity and a consequent re-expansion.
This cycle is guided by the principles of enthalpy and entropy, the building up and simultaneous breaking down of matter. Naturally, the idea of expansion from a singular point of nothing to a singular point of nothing, literally nothing, as in mathematical ZERO, is counterintuitive.
After pondering such a frustrating, and baffling thought, I conclude that time and matter are interdependent, because one cannot and does not exist without the other. This idea is not original, instead it is a furthering of the idea posed by George Musser in his article Could Time End?. Everything is one. When I applied this perspective to the idea that expansion is cyclical, it provides a comforting outcome, more importantly one that makes logical sense to me.
Time, when considered in amounts – seconds, hours, days, etc. – is cyclical. It moves (note I was careful not to use the word “begins”) from zero hours and increases to twenty-four hours, at which point it simultaneously equals zero. I take this example from a helpful anecdote Musser provided in the same article.
At a singularity, matter and time do not exist. There is just nothing. When the singularity expands, time and matter simultaneously come into existence because one cannot be without the other. Time does not exist without matter because matter measures time, without it there is no clock. Likewise, matter does not exist without time because matter constantly moves, it is constantly expanding and expansion requires time to proceed. Following this logic, life and time must also be codependent. Matter constitutes life and because matter and life are the same and because matter cannot exist without time, life too cannot exist without time. This is simple if-A-equals-B-and-B-equals-C-then-A-equals-C logic.
A force must drive time and matter into existence simultaneously. Maybe the force is of the quantum nature and humans cannot perceive it because of the shortcomings of linear thought? Maybe it is magic? Maybe, and probably, some underlying fallacy in my thought fells these conclusions because I simply cannot fathom timelessness or anything but unidirectional time. Without the ability to think differently, we may never understand singularities or the cycle of the Universe. But, we may, in the future construct some sort of artificial intelligence with quantum computing capabilities that will discover the truth about time and matter.
Source
Musser, George. “Could Time End?” Scientific American. Print.
