I’m a structural philosopher and time is pretty much as you describe it. I call it a phenomenon rather than an entity.
From a structural perspective, I can see two structures for time (but others may see more, or simply disagree).
First off, the universe exists in a temporal structure that only contains the Now. There is no other time than the Now, and while light may travel years and years before it reaches us, it is observed and perhaps captured on film only in the Now.
As you describe well, our memory allows a further sorting of the Now as it appears over time. I am reminded of chimps doing a better job at the following task than humans:
Sitting in front of a screen, numbers pop up in distinct places, say twenty numbers. The chimpanzees are able to appoint the sequence better than humans. My thoughts about that are that we have moved much toward abstract thinking, in which we combine parts into a new and single set that is easier to hold inside the brain. For instance, we think utensils instead of forks, spoons and knives. Yet doing the short-cut ‘costs’ us in the department of accuracy. The conclusion would then be that the chimp does not think in abstractions (much) and simply keeps track better of what happened than we do.
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The second structure of time is when there isn’t a Now. The only parts that exist are then the past and the future. Naturally, they touch and that is where we find ourselves. But we are never in the Now; we are always in the future and in the past, much like our bodies have left sides and right sides.
The benefit of this structure is that we can get more answers that way. It clearly appoints passage (action is on-going from one to the other stage) and it puts us in the observer position (we have no control over the passage).
With a future-and-past scheme, we can envision their meeting up ‘behind the scenes,’ while we are ‘stuck upfront.’ It allows for the structural idea that energy regroups and is reused. Recycling occurs while on the move.
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I don’t like the term spacetime at all. It is a misnomer. I call it the (rather ugly term) Collective Passage Framework (CPF). A single mass would not experience it, but the collective of matter — for instance, solar system or galaxy — is on the move collectively and (parts) can experience it.
Their combined action through space creates an effect, a function if you will, that is noticeable in details. I’ve been informed that Mercury shows signs of adjustments that can only be explained through the larger setting.
I liken it to a mirror that in passing shows me my hair is sticking up. I flatten my hair.
The mirror did not flatten my hair. I did. The function is therefore not associated with the mirror and yet without it I would not have flattened my hair. I hope you recognize that the function is then not with spacetime but with matter.
The biggest action in the universe is the divergent action (which we know since LeMaitre/Hubble) and our Milky Way, for instance, is moving away from the originating spot at greater velocity than the ‘local’ galactic dance among the Milky Way’s masses. That fastest action is then greater than the ‘local’ galactic action and this helps in making adjustments within that collective.
I envision it as a wall, but there isn’t a wall at all, because it happens among these masses. There’s nothing there, except for the collective action greater than the circling dance. The parts are held together partially due to the larger divergent action (which is a singular direction for the specific collective) that started up with (or right before) the origin of matter.
In the case of Mercury, its adjustments would then be caused by the collective passage of the Solar System on its much larger trip through space. Perhaps it is a bit like ten children holding hands, running across a field and then one of them slowing down. This action causes not only some kids to slow down as well, but others to speed up.
If the kid on the far left side slows, then the kid on the right side (nine kids over) will get sped up much in what would then be a more circular motion. I don’t know if you have as a kid, but I have played this ‘snake’ game and being the last in the row is like a slingshot.
There are no handheld positions in space, of course, but gravity plus the CPF play their roles to achieve similar results. No, not many slingshots happening in that reality.
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Thank you again, Frank. A fun read. I like it.
