Time - Does it exist?

Question

Tell me, people.
What is the past?
What defines the "Past"?
And what is the future? Is the future the unseen, untouched ethereal yet linear path that the world is to take?

... No.
Why do you believe in time? Because you are told.

Let me tell you a little bit of truth.
One year is the time it takes for our planet to orbit the sun.
That is a DISTANCE. You cannot deny that fact.
A month is the time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth. Again, DISTANCE.
A year is, luckily, divisible into twelve months. The astral, cosmic dance performed by the planets and their satellites around the sun dictate this distance.
A month is divisible into how ever many days we see fit. (Think about it; Ceaser added two months. (Julius -> July, Augustus -> August.) 
As such, if a mortal man can simply change the measurement of 'time' (or, as I propose, the way we divide up our year) then what kind of thing is that?)

I propose that there is no future, that there is no past.
We exist in but a single 'frame'; the present. 
Time does not change, but we do. 
Tell me what you think.

DLM · Accepted Answer

If length exists, then time exists.

How else would you measure change?

Also, the non-existence of time would make orbital mechanics obsolete...  Kepler's Laws for example.  How could "Period ^2 = Semimajor axis ^3" if there were no time for an orbital period to take place?

And I haven't even gotten into Relativity yet...

Ivan A · Answer

OK, let me answer this question once and for all. YES IT DOES EXIST! You along with many philosophers can waste your time figuring out whether it exists or not; bottom line is that there is no field of physics in which time is not used one way or another.

As a contrast example, think about ether. At some point the hypothesis of ether was postulated to explain how em waves travel. But it was found unnecessary for modeling anything and thus it was discarded. This is not the case of time as time can be directly put in terms of the reduction in available energy in the universe or the expansion of it. In fact the "arrow of time" can be put directly in terms of the increase of entropy of the universe; that is time can be put directly in terms of a perfectly measurable physical phenomenon that happens naturally in the universe.

Anonymous · Answer

i think thats like saying a mile (or any other distance) does not exist because you are currently at one point of the mile. just because you exist at a certain place or time does not mean other places & times do not exist. just like time, we can also say that instead of using feet, we can use meters, but that doesnt mean that length doesnt exist

seilnorl · Answer

No, you're wrong, objective reality exists, and time is one dimension of it.

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Time - Does it exist?

4 Answers