Time and tide wait for no man. So goes the ancient saying. Our forefathers realised long, long ago that the flow of time could not be stopped and that time would flow at its own rate. Man has had an understanding of time from the beginning of civilisation. It is well accepted that time flows in one direction only.
Albert Einstein enhanced our understanding of the nature of time by his theory of relativity. He showed us that time was relative. Two events that occur simultaneously for one observer need not be simultaneous for another. Time can dilate depending on the relative velocity. So, an event that occurs over one second for one observer may occur over 10 seconds for another. All this is well understood by at least a few!
Let us now come to a more mundane issue : how the awareness of time impacts our life and who all have this awareness.
Man, we know, understands time. A few, like Einstein, have a very deep understanding indeed. While we wear fancy watches and look at the clock every now and then, time has a more fundamental influence on us than we care to realise. Our very existence is based on time.
Let me explain.
It is generally accepted that a living creature procreates to perpetuate itself. That is, since any living creature will die after a finite period of time, it gives birth to young ones to ensure its survival as a species. So, the species survives, in generation after succeeding generation. This means that there is an understanding of time, an understanding that one will not live forever. Now this might be controversial. While all, or most people, would probably agree that man has a good understanding of time and the fact that he will not live forever, the same may not be the case with lower creatures. What understanding does a buffalo have? What about a cat, a mouse, a bird or even a mosquito? Is it conceivable that these "lowly" creatures understand the nature of time? It is probably safe to assume that these creatures do not have an understanding of time in the same manner that we do: that is to say that while we are conscious about our knowledge of time, these creatures are not.
But birds and animals are bound by time. They wake up a specific times, go looking for food, rest, sleep and even hibernate in a time-bound manner. But these are based on various cues like the sun's position over the day, seasonal changes etc. Not on an explicit understanding of time. But the fact that they produce young ones means they have an innate understanding of time. The very need to multiply stems from an in-born and instinctive drive to prevent extinction of their species.
Single-celled organisms like bacteria also display similar perpetuation. They multiply when the conditions are right. When the conditions are hostile or not conducive, they just wait in a more inactive state. Since bacteria have a finite lifetime, it is logical to assume that they multiply to stay alive as a species.
This is true for plants as well. They have various mechanisms for ensuring the continuity of their species. Plants vary in size from huge, towering trees to tiny miniscule entities. But they all have one common trait - reproduction.
The same goes for viruses. Viruses are regarded as non living. They cannot multiply on their own but need a host cell to do so. They multiply under the right conditions. They "die" when the conditions are not right. So what is the need for a "non living" virus to multiply? If it is for perpetuating its existence, if it is programmed to continue its line, then is it truly non living? Perhaps the classification needs a second or third or n th look.
Contrast this with a lifeless object like a stone. It has no sense of time. It does not multiply. It does nothing to create replicas of itself. The same goes for any non living thing like a table, a ring, a shoe, a pen etc. They have just no "understanding" of time.
So what does all this tell us? That the comprehension of time is very ancient. It is as old as life itself and all living things have an innate awareness of the flow of time, an awareness that propels them to multiply, a sense that drives them to overcome their mortality by producing the next generation. Perhaps life itself evolved only after this understanding was achieved. Perhaps.
Albert Einstein enhanced our understanding of the nature of time by his theory of relativity. He showed us that time was relative. Two events that occur simultaneously for one observer need not be simultaneous for another. Time can dilate depending on the relative velocity. So, an event that occurs over one second for one observer may occur over 10 seconds for another. All this is well understood by at least a few!
Let us now come to a more mundane issue : how the awareness of time impacts our life and who all have this awareness.
Man, we know, understands time. A few, like Einstein, have a very deep understanding indeed. While we wear fancy watches and look at the clock every now and then, time has a more fundamental influence on us than we care to realise. Our very existence is based on time.
Let me explain.
It is generally accepted that a living creature procreates to perpetuate itself. That is, since any living creature will die after a finite period of time, it gives birth to young ones to ensure its survival as a species. So, the species survives, in generation after succeeding generation. This means that there is an understanding of time, an understanding that one will not live forever. Now this might be controversial. While all, or most people, would probably agree that man has a good understanding of time and the fact that he will not live forever, the same may not be the case with lower creatures. What understanding does a buffalo have? What about a cat, a mouse, a bird or even a mosquito? Is it conceivable that these "lowly" creatures understand the nature of time? It is probably safe to assume that these creatures do not have an understanding of time in the same manner that we do: that is to say that while we are conscious about our knowledge of time, these creatures are not.
But birds and animals are bound by time. They wake up a specific times, go looking for food, rest, sleep and even hibernate in a time-bound manner. But these are based on various cues like the sun's position over the day, seasonal changes etc. Not on an explicit understanding of time. But the fact that they produce young ones means they have an innate understanding of time. The very need to multiply stems from an in-born and instinctive drive to prevent extinction of their species.
Single-celled organisms like bacteria also display similar perpetuation. They multiply when the conditions are right. When the conditions are hostile or not conducive, they just wait in a more inactive state. Since bacteria have a finite lifetime, it is logical to assume that they multiply to stay alive as a species.
This is true for plants as well. They have various mechanisms for ensuring the continuity of their species. Plants vary in size from huge, towering trees to tiny miniscule entities. But they all have one common trait - reproduction.
The same goes for viruses. Viruses are regarded as non living. They cannot multiply on their own but need a host cell to do so. They multiply under the right conditions. They "die" when the conditions are not right. So what is the need for a "non living" virus to multiply? If it is for perpetuating its existence, if it is programmed to continue its line, then is it truly non living? Perhaps the classification needs a second or third or n th look.
Contrast this with a lifeless object like a stone. It has no sense of time. It does not multiply. It does nothing to create replicas of itself. The same goes for any non living thing like a table, a ring, a shoe, a pen etc. They have just no "understanding" of time.
So what does all this tell us? That the comprehension of time is very ancient. It is as old as life itself and all living things have an innate awareness of the flow of time, an awareness that propels them to multiply, a sense that drives them to overcome their mortality by producing the next generation. Perhaps life itself evolved only after this understanding was achieved. Perhaps.
