(5 minute read)

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(From previous post) We are rational animals, as Aristotle noted. Except for certain conditions, all of us have the ability and capacity to conceptualize abstract thought and ideas. Nearly a universal part of the human condition is the idea that we can rationally evaluate ourselves. We look at where we once were. We analyze our progress to what we are today. We also consider what and how we perceive ourselves in the future.

“Where do you see yourself in five years,” used to be an interview trope when applying for a job.

It’s that rationality that allows most of us to conceive where we would like to be.

Angst as part of the human condition and time is its largest contributor. Many of us feel this angst knowing where we are right now compared to where we want to be. For some, it’s a daunting cavernous valley from where we are now to what we want to be then.

A Somewhat Deep(er) Dive

“Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the “old one.” I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.”

Albert Einstein, Letter to Max Born, 1926

“I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am.”

Albert Einstein, 1929

For now, let us assume the obvious and conduct a quick thought experiment. We will use what the psychologist Endel Tulving identified as “episodic memory.” This is later called mental time travel. It is the process we use to mentally travel “backwards in time” (memory). It also helps us think about or project what can happen in the future.

It is widely accepted that who we are today results from who we were before today. Many different factors contribute to this over time. We have become a cumulative makeup of ourselves.

Most of us can trace back through our lives. We can do this almost in linear fashion. We can point to the milestones that got us to who we are today.

Easy to do, right? Somehow there is no daunting cavernous valley when looking back. Literally, it just all seems to come together in a mosaic that makes sense.

Conversely it’s not so easy using the same set of logistics when it does come to projecting into our future. As it should be. No one can see everything that is going to happen in the future. Still, it can be fun to think about what will happen if we could. Hollywood has certainly entertained us with such ideas.

So there is still the cavernous valley between what we are now and who we will become later. But, somehow, that cavern gets smaller with a realization. Consider that past, present, and future are only linguistic constructs of time. Then ask, is it too much to consider that whatever or whoever I am about to become, I already am?

Lest one might think I’m heading into the mystical, let me assure you. Aristotle already settled this argument with his thoughts on actuality and potentiality. A thing has the potential to become something else.

A farmer looks at a block of granite. A stone carver looks at the same block. Each person will likely see the potential for the granite differently. They will have different ideas about its use and what it may become.

The farmer potentially sees the granite as a step to a barn. It could also be the beginnings of a foundation of a building. The stone carver envisions it as a work of art or a column in a temple. The potential is there but not quite yet fully realized for each. In reality, it is still a block of granite. It only becomes something else through some kind of dynamic force. This transformation could involve something as simple as pushing it in front of a building. Alternatively, it might mean taking a hammer and chiseling it to form a figure.

In actuality the stone is still a stone. Potentially it is something altogether different. The tension, if you will, falls in between what it is and what will it become.

But, potentially, it is already what it will become, but not quite yet.

Taking that thought a step further, we know that in the end we all become something different physically. We also change emotionally and intellectually from what we are now. We may not be able to fill in the gaps like we can when we look back on our lives. We may not be able to clearly envision it like the stone cutter. But whatever our outcome we are, potentially, already it …but not quite yet.

But you have to admit. The gap looking forward is now looking much smaller. The idea is fascinating.

We don’t have to strive or be so wrapped up in becoming something or someone. Yes, there are goals. Yes, I want to improve myself. I’ve already gotten as far as I have. I am here now. It only stands to reason that I’ll eventually get to where I want to go anyway. In fact, I’m already there …but not quite yet.

And that means …there is no such thing as time. It’s only a tool. Time is not our enemy. It’s neither good nor bad. It is neutral. It is nothing and it is infinite.

No secret to decipher from an outside universe. The striving for that is over.

I agree with Einstein. He also said (paraphrasing) that the universe doesn’t owe us a damn thing. But we can spend all our days exploring the many facets of it.

That is, if we have the time.