Objections to multiple dimensions of time

Multiple dimensions of time are held to be impossible or the stuff of science fiction. Despite this there is an extensive literature on multiple dimensions of time. However, with few exceptions multiple dimensions of time are held to be merely a formalism or undetectable. If multiple dimensions of time are considered to exist, it is something very different from time as is commonly known.

On this website we have shown that multiple dimensions of time are readily understood through elementary transportation and physics. In what follows we present short counter-arguments to some objections to multiple dimensions of time (duration space).

Objection #1. Time is measured by clocks, which measure only one dimension.

We can just as well say space is measured by rods or rulers, which measure only one dimension. Both clocks and rods measure one dimension with each use but may be employed to measure multiple dimensions separately – or with three instruments. Three dimensions of duration space are measured from one-dimensional measurements, as are three dimensions of length space.

Objection #2: Direction is a property of “space”, not of time.

First, this is begging the question. The question is whether temporal direction exists. Second, the association of direction with length space it just that: an association. One can just as well associate direction with duration space. That is, direction can be defined by duration as well as length. Third, entities in motion have both length and duration properties that arise together. The difference is in how they are measured.

Objection #3: We cannot go backwards in time as we can in “space”.

It depends on what you mean by “backwards”. We can measure duration forwards or backwards. One way is counting up, and the other way is counting down. For example, we can set an alarm to count up from the present moment to a specified duration, or we can set an alarm to count down from the present moment a specified amount of duration. We can use clocks that run clockwise or clocks that run counter-clockwise.

Objection #4: Time flows in only one direction.

Yes, a clock moves in one direction. And a ruler has a sequence of numbers in one direction. The sense of time flowing independently of us is related to the use of time as an independent variable. If length is an independent variable, then length will seem to flow on in one direction. But if time is a dependent variable, it may be measured in multiple directions, just as length is. See previous posts here and here.

Objection #5: The arrow of time is one-way; we cannot change the past.

No past measurements can be changed. That applies to measurements of length as well as time. One could as well suppose there’s an arrow of length that disallows changing past measurements of length. The mistake is thinking that the past has only to do with time and not other activities. All activities take place in the past, present, or future – not just watching the clock.

Objection #6: Events are ordered by time in a linear sequence.

Events may be ordered in multiple ways. One way is by the calendar and the clock. Another way is by the location where they occur, which may be the distance from a particular location such as a city center. Or events may be ordered by their importance. Narrators have many ways of ordering events.

Objection #7: We can return to the same place but not to the same time.

First, one cannot return to exactly the same place because places change over time. But more importantly, space and time are linked by events and one cannot return to the same event. The event of being in place A at time B cannot be repeated. An event may be similar to a previous event but it is not the same event. No two events are exactly the same.

Objection #8: Only one dimension of time has been observed.

Whether that was ever true, it is true no longer. I have been pointing out how multiple dimensions of time may be observed. This is a question of looking at the instruments (as Galileo once tried to get his opponents to look in a telescope).