Abstract
Flowandpassageof time puzzles were analyzed by first clarifying their roles in the current multidisciplinary understanding of time in consciousness. All terms ( flow,passage,happening,becoming) are carefully defined.Flowandpassageare defined differently, the former involving the psychological aspects of time and the latter involving the evolving universe and associated new cerebral events. The concept of the flow of time (FOT) is deconstructed into two levels: (a) a lower level ― a perceptual dynamic flux, orhappening, orflowof events (not time); and (b) an upper level ― a cognitive view of past/present/future in which the observer seems to move from one to the other. With increasing evidence that all perception is a discrete continuity provided by illusory perceptual completion, the lower-level FOT is essentially the result of perceptual completion. The brain conflates the expressionflow(passage, for some) of time with experiences of perceptual completion. However, this is an illusory percept. Converging evidence on the upper-level FOT reveals it as a false cognition that has the illusory percept of object persistence as its prerequisite. To research this argument, an experiment that temporarily removes the experience of the lower-level FOT might be conducted. The claustrum of the brain (arguably the center of consciousness) should be intermittently stimulated to create a scenario of discrete observations (involving all the senses) with long interstimulus intervals of non-consciousness and thereby no perceptual completion. Without perceptual completion, there should be no subjective experience of the lower-level FOT.
Highlights
Consciousness and the Flow of TimeAndersen and Grush (2009) reviewed the history of time consciousness. James (1890; see Block, 1994) a psychologist, philosopher and trained physician, described the experience of time as a stream of consciousness
Inner time consciousness is an experience of both succession and duration of events, both of which contribute to the specious present
We previously reviewed our understanding of the flow of time (FOT) (Gruber et al, 2015), a phenomenon that was discussed in detail by Foundalis (2008), Hameroff (2003), and Penrose (1994)
Summary
Andersen and Grush (2009) reviewed the history of time consciousness. James (1890; see Block, 1994) a psychologist, philosopher and trained physician, described the experience of time as a stream of consciousness. One needs no account of motion to connect the events, and according to Einstein the past/ present/future distinction is a “stubborn illusion” (Davies, 2002, 2004; Gruber, 2008) It is an experiential phenomenon in which time ( events) moves past the apparently single observer like a river, the term flow of time (FOT). The future is not called there, as in the conventional block universe, but instead comes into existence (by way of quantum mechanics) and is said not to be an illusion It is not an illusion because the experiential phenomenon coincides with physics, as exemplified by the cosmological theory of Smolin (1997, 2013a, b; 2014). Baron et al (2015) provided a clear and concise exposition of this non-phenomenology view
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
