The nature of the present

TL;DR

This paper argues for a tenseless view of time, suggesting that the feeling of a moving present is an emergent perception rather than an objective feature of reality, with no actual flow of time.

Contribution

It proposes that the present is an emergent perception and advocates for a tenseless, ordered system of events as the true nature of time.

Findings

The feeling of 'now' is a perceptual illusion.

Time is best understood as a static ordering of events.

There is no actual flow of time, only an ordered set of events.

Abstract

The feeling of a moving present or `now' seems to form part of our most basic perceptions about reality. Such a present, however, is not reflected in any of our theories of the physical world. In this short note I argue for a tenseless view of time, where what we call `the present' is just an emergent secondary quality arising from the interaction of perceiving self-conscious individuals with their environment. I maintain that there is no flow of time, but just an ordered system of events.