Discussion Does anyone know how if there is a way to overcome the passage of time?

[TAW122]

This is a continuous philosophical problem that I've pondered on and off throughout my adulthood life. It is about the passage of time, or goalposts that are not stationary (dynamic and moving). There are several questions that arise from this very problem.

1. How does one come to terms or if possible, overcome a moving goalpost?

2. If one could overcome a moving goalpost over the passage of time itself, could one stay with the curve (or even better, ahead of the curve)?

3. Additionally, is there a way to futureproof oneself as the passage of time does not stop for anyone?

If anyone has some insight and wishes to add onto this, feel free to as that would be appreciated.

 

[Lauriso]

I really don't understand what exactly you're talking about. Can you try rephrasing it?

 

[TAW122]

What I'm asking is specifically, how would one be able to overcome or defeat a moving goalpost, or is it not possible?

I'll use an example for context. Suppose we have a particular sport, it doesn't matter which one, but I'll just use swimming for example.
Swimmer #1, #2, and #3 are Olympic swimmers respectively. In 1998, Swimmer #1 managed to win a gold medal while #2 and #3 aren't even in the Olympics yet. Then about 10 years later, Swimmer #2 has surpassed #1 and is now the best in the world. And in 2019, Swimmer #3 surpassed #2, but somehow swimmer #1 makes a major comeback and not only surpassed both #2 and #3, but also beaten her own record immensely. As time goes on, 2021, 2025, 20XX, etc. records are broken and the new best keeps moving.

So the question becomes, how does one reach see the best swimmer in the world or will one never see the best swimmer? I suppose one could take snippets of time (which is then just an instance of a continuum as time never stops nor does it ever go backwards in this real, natural world), and do that but I don't know if there is a way to fully or if it is possible to ever see the best ever.

Note: I'm not really a sports or athletes person, but I figured I used that as a reference in order to present my question with some context.

Also, the follow up questions (2 and 3 respectively) are related to the first one, meaning that is there a way or method for something to withstand the test of time, or futureproof it such that it would never become obsolete.

 

[Shivali]

What is time? Maybe there is no time at all. Past, present, futur just a mental construction of the story telling human brain...

 

[Kawika12]

Ask Kamala Harris. She's the expert.

 

[Kawika12]

 

[beyondbreath]

I think the only way to overcome that would be to stop doing things? You can have a permanent best swimmer of all time if you end all swimming competitions. It's like the society in the book Matched by Ally Condie. They have 100 songs, 100 poems, etc and no more are allowed to be made. You'd probably have to enforce something like that. Or hit some kind of wall? Like a law of science that shows you can only swim so fast

 

[Rainy_days]

Writing antinatalist manifestos against prolifers, at speed with which they can never overtake.

 

[TAW122]

I think the only way to overcome that would be to stop doing things? You can have a permanent best swimmer of all time if you end all swimming competitions. It's like the society in the book Matched by Ally Condie. They have 100 songs, 100 poems, etc and no more are allowed to be made. You'd probably have to enforce something like that. Or hit some kind of wall? Like a law of science that shows you can only swim so fast

True, and that does indeed make sense. Though by ending all swimming competitions (in this example), then it simply does replace the problem with another problem. What I mean by this is while there will be a permanent best (greatest of all time), it introduces the lack of progress problem. So I guess in a sense it is like a paradox. If the passage of time is no longer a thing, then there could be a end point, a finite point in a given point in time, but if it is set in stone, then also progress will be impossible. In other words, one cannot have permanence alongside with progress because the goal post (as well as the passage of time) keeps moving. It's either one or the other.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I guess- make goals that are realistic and be prepared to not be devastated if you don't reach them. Make goals that are specific to you- maybe don't aim to be the best in the world at something (if you know you don't have the talent for that.) Just try and be better than you were last week. Plus- take into account your limitations- if you injure yourself, or become ill- lower your goals to compensate. Goals can 'move' in either direction- you can make them easier for yourself if you find you are CONSTANTLY missing your targets and the resulting disappointment is making you even more unmotivated. Maybe have an ambitious overall aim but lots of more achievable mini aims to get there. Get a balance between pushing yourself but not burning out.

If you can't make goals for yourself- do a course, find a job- paid or voluntary where other people set your goals and if you don't achieve them- you fail. But also try to accept failure as a learning tool- not something to crush and berate yourself with.

Don't know if that's really what you meant but just a few thoughts...

 

[kushykush]

i'm really not sure what ur asking lol but my perspective on time is that it's inevitable. time passes whether we like it or not

 

[H.O.Xan]

if u wanna accept the best benchmark there is, the current time is the best way to look at it, at some point the human can't surpass certain limits of their own body, the highest record in the end is the end 'goalpost'