Have you ever wondered why time keeps moving forward? Why can't we go backwards in time as well as forwards, or even just stay in one time? (In other words, why doesn't life have "rewind" and "pause" buttons?)
Going back in time would most likely make existence so much more complicated, what with alternate timelines and what-ifs and people being their own parents. But let's set that idea aside. I'm sure everyone wishes at some point that they could go back in time, maybe to fix a mistake somewhere or to cling to a happy experience.
Why can't we do that? Why is time so strict?
I believe that time keeps pushing us forward because it wants to push us to someplace better. It won't let you stay in one happy moment, because there are many more moments up ahead that are even happier. It won't let you dwell in the past because your future is better. If it weren't for time, there would surely be a lot of us-- perhaps even all of us-- who would find a spot on the timeline that they liked and just stay there forever, refusing to budge. We can't get any better that way, nor can we learn anything in that sort of stasis.
This gives rise to a lot of questions. Why would we want to learn anything? What about "ignorance is bliss?" What about all the bad experiences that time pushes us into? The answers to these questions are worthy of their own posts.
And then there's my favorite question: "Isn't time pushing us closer and closer to our DEATHS!? That's not a good thing, is it? Who does this 'time' person think he is?" This question sparks a discussion of life after death, and that's definitely a topic for another day.
First, pardon the strangeness for posting a comment so long after the concerned post was written. Second, I think the only reason time seems to move forward is because our memories work backward. If we didn't have any memory, we would exist entirely in the present, and the future would have exactly the same relationship with us as the past. On the other hand, I suppose there could be an anti-memory as well, as predictive as memory is "recollective" (I don't think that's a word, btw). But that's getting metaphysical. Anyway, good post.
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