If you could choose to visit either the past or the future, which would you choose, and why?
Personally, I would choose the past because it is a time that has happened and we therefore have the ability to learn about it; the future, on the other hand, is a time that has not yet existed, and it is unfamiliar, unpredictable, and inexplicable. It does not require much to alter the future in such a way that is incomprehensible to our eyes, which only truly understand the present.
For example, if we traveled 600 years into the past, we would likely not be surprised to see that knights exist, because we have discovered documents and artifacts that prove their former existence, but if we traveled 600 years into the future, we would almost certainly be astonished to see how future soldiers look, because it is physically impossible to know future events in advance. The future can only truly make sense to someone who understands the events that lead up to that stage in time.
This mysterious dimension we call time certainly is an odd phenomenon.
The Absurdity of Time
Time is a simple concept, right? I mean, our world revolves around time, we all know what it is… or do we? Think about it, what is time? How does time move? Why does time move? It takes effort to move through physical space, but does it take energy to move through time? Why does time appear to be an always moving, yet inescapable, constraint, like a halter that leads us into outlandish worlds that are ever further from our home? The concept of time is deceptively complex.
Why is it that we can exist in the same place as previous events, but no one can ever exist in past events again? This may seem like a foolish question, but seriously, what changes? Time changes, obviously, but how? It’s almost as if the entire physical realm changes with time, like the past was not only a different time, but also a different place. We can always go to the same place where a historical event occurred, but we can never stand in that place at the same time as the people who were there during the event.
Consider, for example, former president Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address; Lincoln delivered that address while standing near the city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. You can visit the city today and stand where Lincoln stood, but you will never be standing beside Lincoln, because you would be separated from him by 160 years. Physical distance is an easy concept to grasp, but separation by time is superficially simple, yet fundamentally unfathomable.
Like a boulder plummeting down a pit, time is an unstoppable force that impetuously dashes along its course, which is never reluctant to continue down its path but never able to return to its origin. With each passing day, we grow further apart from past events which have been left behind.
Time is also like a one way mirror; we can look into the past and learn about previous civilizations, but the future and upcoming civilizations are cloaked from our sight. In the same way, previous civilizations had no way of knowing about us, but future civilizations will have the chance to know about us and our way of life.
Maybe I fixate too much on the past, but there is nothing wrong with fondly remembering the good times of the past every now and then. There is, however, a brighter perspective of time. We can choose to learn from the past while looking forward to the future, not with a fear of the uncertainty, but with a sense of purpose as we seize the opportunities that each day brings; each day is a new beginning.
Don’t take time for granted. Now is the time to live your life; live while you are alive. Build a great legacy while the ability lasts. Build things that remain. Do things that benefit posterity; the Pilgrims did when they exchanged every trace of comfort in their lives to build a brighter future for posterity, and that brighter future eventually led to the establishment of a nation which became one of the world’s superpowers. The soldiers who fought to the death for your freedom still lay in their early graves, entrusting you with the future for which they paid so dearly. Let’s start building our legacy today, even if it’s a small step.
Onward American 