Past, Present and Future are happening simultaneously

This post on Boing Boing is about a man who, in 1927, came up with the idea described in the subject heading of this post of mine. This is an idea that I’ve had for a little while now. I’ll dig up some documentation some time in the future, but for now you’ll have to take my word for it.

I haven’t read the article that Boing Boing has linked to yet, but I wanted to post about it here now and summarize my own thoughts.

1. Time is a dimension like length, width and height. I think my idea comes from someone else’s idea, but here’s what I think: If we were born some impossible height way up in the sky, and we spent our whole lives falling (and never landing) we would never question the continuous downward movement of our bodies. This is what time is like. We are continually falling forward through time, and there’s no reason we can move side to side, or even backwards, or more quickly forwards, we just don’t have the technology for it.
2. Everything in the past is frozen there. It continues to exist, and can’t be altered. So why do we think the future has yet to exist, and is still available to change? I like Vonnegut’s idea in Timequake where people suddenly find themselves several years in the past, but because there’s only one possible course of events they’re forced to relive those years all over again, do the same things, think the same thoughts, feel the same feelings. They’re reliving the past, without even really knowing it. Or do we?
3. I have dreams that feel like they might be from the future. I also have deja vu, and I’ve had severe deja vu moments where I feel very certain that I know what’s going to happen next. This feeling persists for some time and there’s usually a sense of panic that washes over me. I’ve begun documenting these moments, but haven’t noticed a pattern yet. I always intend to write down my dreams, but usually put it off too long. Sometimes I’ll find myself in a moment and I feel a mild sense of deja vu, but it won’t just be deja vu, it will feel like a memory of a dream and I will feel certain that I had dreamt the moment, but without documentation it’s impossible for me to confirm it. How convenient.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading that article, and the essay that it’s about. Maybe I’ll come back to this entry and edit it with an update.