Written by Nigel Philpot
Once Einstein said that the problem of the NOW worried him seriously.
Once Einstein said that the problem of the NOW worried him seriously.
He explained that the experience of the NOW means something special for man, something essentially different from the past and the future, but that this important difference does not and cannot occur within physics. That this experience cannot be grasped by science seemed to him to be a matter of painful but inevitable resignation. I remarked that all that occurs objectively can be described in science; on the one hand the temporal sequence of events is described in physics; and, on the other hand, the peculiarities of man's experience with respect to time, including his different
attitude towards past, present and future, can be described and (in principle) explained in psychology.
But Einstein thought that these scientific descriptions cannot possibly satisfy our human needs; that there is something essential about the NOW which is just outside the realm of science.
On expanding self-awareness
A human being is part of the whole, called by us “universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion
of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal decisions and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be "to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.”
Clever man that Einstein!!
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