Three dimensions of time: An approach for reconciling the discrepancies between experienced time and modern physics

The essay examines the mismatch between how time feels subjectively and how it is described by modern physics. Three core features of lived time are identified: the present feels uniquely real, time seems to flow, and the future appears open with real possibilities. Physics, however, treats these features as illusions produced by consciousness. The authors argue that these subjective aspects are so self-evident they should be treated as axioms, and propose a new framework with three dimensions of time: objective time (clock time), subjective time (the experience of passage), and alternative time (branching future possibilities). This framework aims to better align scientific understanding with human experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This essay reviews the discrepancies between the phenomenal experience of time and the characterization of time as it is currently conceptualized by modern physics. Three aspects of the subjective quality of time are identified: (1) the present is privileged and distinct from the past and future in that it is the exclusive time at which observers experience events as happening; (2) time flows from one moment to the next; and (3) the future is open and presents itself with genuine alternative possibilities. Strikingly, however, modern physics claims that these essential aspects of the experience of time are illusory products of consciousness. We argue that physics has dismissed aspects of experience that are sufficiently self-evident that they can reasonably be taken as axioms, and thus new frameworks that incorporate these elements should be considered. Towards this end, a framework is presented that characterizes the observer as a window moving through information space with three dimensions of time: objective time—corresponding to clock time; subjective time—the experience of the passage of time; and alternative time—the branching genuine possibilities presented by the future. This roughhewn framework illustrates the type of approach that could enable our scientific understanding of time to be brought into greater alignment with the essential ways in which we experience it.