An imaginative look at the possibilities of time conception, Lightman’s novel is a pleasure to read. Every vignette of a different world with a different time structure or understanding of time seemed in some way possible. As a reader I was capable of placing myself in that setting and realizing that I would not know the difference because of the conscious encompassing nature of time. One of the passages that I liked the best was the notion of endless amount of time, and the dichotomy that Lightman set up between the “nows” and the “laters”. This one was particularly interesting because I was able to explain the premises of the idea to other people and ask them whether they would consider themselves a now or a later. Many people said that they would be “laters” and that in fact no “nows” would exist bases on the idea that with an endless amount of time there would be nothing that pushes anyone to do anything. Others said that they would eventually be a “now” because they would relatively quickly get bored with just sitting around and not doing anything.
Another passage that struck me as interesting was the concept of being able to feely move with in time, fast-forward time, or stay paused in time. This passage was interesting because it so very relevant to the way people handle their experience with time anyway. Some people try to get away from time, fast-forward it by constantly moving and being interested in the new. Others are stuck in a situation that was at one point lovely and interesting, but now has faded to monotony. These people stay invested in this situation only for fear of change. This relates to the physicist on Radio Lab’s explanation of time. That time is a measure of change.
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