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I've decided I don't want to have a bio, so instead, I've decided to post this lovely essay I wrote about the nature of the time.

Time: The Fourth Dimension

Time is not absolutely defined- Albert Einstein

People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff. - The Doctor

When it comes to time, common sense seems to dictate that, like space, it is absolute. We live in a society that accepts a “now”- a present, and therefore a future and a past. But what’s wrong with that? As a person performs a task or action, they believe it is being performed in the “now”- and things had happened before it and after it. It’s just how the world works, right?
In fact, despite the seeming continuity of time, there is no proof to suggest that there is what we call the “now”. It’s hard to define even if you do believe in continuing time. How long does “now” last? How do we measure it? It would be pointless to try and define the present- and for more than just a lack of measurements.
But to understand the complications that arise in the analysis of what time is, first we must briefly look at Einstein’s theory of relativity. As one of the first physicists to actually question time, he relates the following:
Since there exists in this four dimensional structure [space-time] no longer any sections which represent "now" objectively, the concepts of happening and becoming are indeed not completely suspended, but yet complicated. It appears therefore more natural to think of physical reality as a four dimensional existence, instead of, as hitherto, the evolution of a three dimensional existence
By this, Einstein suggests that instead of a universal “now”, time is less objective- and by this, also determines that time is the fourth dimension of the universe. Though the existence of time as a 4th dimension seems plausible, the interchangeable nature of time confuses us. How can it be that time doesn’t happen in order?
Actually, time is relative. It’s not a new concept. In fact, in the scientific community, it’s been accepted since the creation of the theory of relativity, and hasn’t been attested since. But why believe his theory above common observance?
Despite the brilliance of all Einstein’s other conclusions, time has always seemed like a straight line to us, an independent value. It seems impossible to think that time does not happen in an order. In the same moment I do something, you should be doing a different thing at the same time somewhere else. That sounds perfectly plausible. And though as an Einstein work it does carry some weight, theories are, after all, only theories. It’s not like there’s proof, right?
Well, in fact, there is. In 1971, two brilliant physicists by the names of Joe Hafele and Richard Keating decided they wanted to prove the so called “elasticity” of time. To do this, they used highly accurate atomic clocks, used to measure time in nanoseconds. Hafele and Keating left one set on the ground, took another set into airplanes, and flew them around the work.
The results, though seemingly impossible, were undeniably true- the airborne clocks were 59 nanoseconds slower than the ones left on the ground. This in fact, was exactly the amount predicted in Einstein’s theory.
This proves what Einstein already seemed to know- that time can be changed simply by moving very fast.
But- this seems impossible! Naturally, we are inclined to question the results. Time itself cannot be slowed down or sped up, so is it maybe these clocks that are changed by the movement? This can’t be of course- the clocks used in the Hafele-Keating theory are accurate, working clocks, and moving them would not break them or mess with their wiring. So there must be some other explanation, right?
This once again comes down to a question of the difference between mental time and physical time. While mental time is a broad psychological topic, we are discussing physical time- measured by clocks, but in no way bound by them. Time’s changing nature is more believable once we accept that clocks are only tools and instruments used to measure physical time- after all, hours and minutes are a creation of the human intellect.
So, to make this concept of “speeding up” time more understandable, we employ the use of a hypothetical- a common parable of “the twin effect”. In his novel, Paul Davies describes it as such:
Sally and Sam decide to test Einstein’s theory, so Sally boards a rocket ship in 2001 and zooms off at 99 percent of the speed of light to a nearby star situated 10 light years away. Sam stays at home. On reaching her destination, Sally immediately turns around and heads home at the same speed. Sam observes the duration of her journey to be just over 20 earth years. But Sally experiences time differently. For her, the journey has taken less than 3 years, so when she gets back to Earth she finds that the date there is 2021 and Sam is now 17 years older than she is. Sally and Sam are no longer twins of the same age.
This seems a bit crazy- but in fact, this “speeding” up of time through motion has been one of the suggested mediums to facilitate time travel. Though we are nowhere near sophisticated enough to travel at such an enormous speed, the theory of the twins is hypothetically possible.
Thus, the theory of time being relative is proved.
So what does this mean? If time is no longer a straight line, what is it?
Unfortunately, there is no set definition for that. Time, like many other aspects of modern day physics, is still something of a mystery. Though we understand some of its patterns and changes, no physicist can tell you exactly certainly what it is- it is, after all, too changeable.
Einstein had a belief that there was, perhaps, a formula that absolutely defined the universe, a “Final Theory”, and what we see at the moment is only a small portion. He relates this theory in a metaphor- “Nature”, Einstein says, “shows us only the tail of the lion. But I do not doubt that the lion belongs to it even though he cannot at once reveal himself because of his enormous size.”
Time, it seems, is part of this tail- but to understand it fully, perhaps we need to see more of the body of the lion. Then, perhaps, we can begin to fully understand this strange and powerful concept that dictates us all.

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