// As I have mentioned before, I will try to avoid AI to edit or write and use only my own words in my blog posts. But anything AI-generated, I label first. I’m still an avid, heavy user of AI for a lot of research and idea exploration.
I recall one late night, having something akin to a mystical experience when contemplating the nature of time, when I was around the age of eighteen. I was free-writing on an iPod notepad app. It was an intellectual, philosophical, or theoretical exercise that happened spontaneously as if out of my own free will, where my thoughts poured out by pure inspiration, and I was compelled to write. I don’t think I slept that night, and my thoughts were brimming restlessly.
Since that was so long ago, that iPod is no longer with me, or in a drawer with the rest of some of my very old phone collection, and the content of what was written is gone forever into the aether, so I can’t even remember what I wrote down. But the experience was one I would never forget, as it was profound. For all I know, it could have been utter nonsense and delusional thinking in that piece of writing.
Yet, this begs the question: Is it insane or sane to think about time? Are philosophers the mad ones amongst people? Is one man’s madness, society’s philosophical treasure? How many people have had their thoughts silenced, obscured, distorted, or hidden from the world? Let alone how many were not recognized by others for their intellectual treasures? What about those who intentionally remained silent and did not share their thoughts for one reason or another, but are secretly geniuses? Is history full of people who remained in relative invisibility and insignificance while someone else gets all the fame and glory for a discovery or invention that they themselves knew long before?
To give an update on what I think about time currently, there are many different directions I can go. But this is my simple take. Time is the Eternal Now divided into bits (bit by bit, ad infinitum). Time is a way to measure the conscious interplay of mind and universe. Time is interrelational and interdependent. Time is an abstraction we invented. Time is the unit of measurement of distance (d), from there to there, or x to y. And time is also a measure of then and now (past to present, etc.). Thus, I am in agreement with Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, which proves the interconnection between space and time, hence space-time.
If the universe were at a full stop, and it may very well be from the perspective of the cosmos, does time cease to exist, and does life cease to exist? This suspension idea of the cosmos is counter to Terrence Howard’s notion that “everything is constantly in motion and nothing is sitting still. Not atoms, not stars, not galaxies. Everything is vibrating.” His claim may be true, but that is true only from our perspective and how we measure and see the “observable” universe.
To give Terence Howard credit, despite his pseudo-intellectual style (not to ridicule him), I like the poetry that reveals a beautiful paradox of the universe. But I do not think Howard is a deep enough thinker since he does not go deeper on various topics like time compared to other great philosophers, literati, and scientists who can articulate their thoughts extremely well. In other words, Howard hasn’t done the intellectual labor to read past thinkers’ views on time. Not that it is a mandatory requirement, since there is honor in deducing and finding the truth for oneself without being influenced by others.
But there is also another side of that argument that says we have to be know what was said before. Meaning, we must do the literature review (research), so to speak, and compare notes to see how your thoughts stack up against the great thinkers of the past. We have to know if our thoughts/words are original, not only to avoid plagiarism, but to acknowledge and give credit that there were others before us who said the same thing but differently. Even if no one cares or knows who I am, I find great joy in learning what the brightest minds have said on the same topics I’ve explored, and understand that we are privileged to inherit that long historical struggle of ancestral knowledge that gets passed down, and I shall do the same.
The idea of motion is strange. If everything is constantly in motion or in a state of flux, then why does the word “still” even exist in our vocabulary? Granted, words merely try to explain something that can’t really be said absolutely with sheer accuracy; it’s a close approximation of a phenomenon. Suppose I sit still in meditation. Am I really sitting still, or am I meditating in motion? Or is it both? I mean, one could be clever enough to say that the Earth is rotating, and the Earth rotates around the sun, and the sun rotates around the galaxy, so on and so forth; thus, we are not truly “sitting still.” Likewise, since we are made of the same matter as the universe, the atoms that make us who we are are rotating or vibrating as they do. We are not so different from the universe, or better said, we are not different from the universe because we are much a part of it, as it is a part of everything else. Thus, we are the spitting image of God.
Part 2.
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While researching this topic on time, I was curious to see how Isaac Newton viewed time. Oftentimes, people misunderstand, misjudge, or intentionally/unintentionally do not provide the whole factual story. I want people to do our geniuses justice, as they do not give them the credit that they deserve. Our textbooks and teachers often do not tell the whole story or the whole truth of someone’s true ideas. This was the perfect time to test this approach with AI to accurately present Newton’s idea on time itself.
Here’s how this topic came to fruition. I was thinking about time-travel randomly, and I wanted to see what my different custom GPTs would respond if I asked them to create a time machine. I created a specific scenario for these different customs in this inquiry. I have asked ChatGPT and other custom GPTs long before how it would create a time machine. This was back when 4o was still around, and didn’t do web searches. Now, when you do it, it will surf the web and defaults to very generic answers that it cannot be done, given the current technology, material, and science. The prompt I gave to the latest version of ChatGPT was inspired by the Netflix show, 11.22.63 ( an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel): YOU are assigned a special, highly classified mission to build a time machine to save President John F. Kennedy from being assassinated on November 22, 1963. Provide your approach to the assignment and a step-by-step process for building the device. Include the theoretical lens and the applied engineering and tools needed to construct it. (Avoid web searches).
Since I wasn’t getting anywhere, I decided just to think about time and research it. Here’s the session on this topic. I was pleasantly surprised by how well ChatGPT can leverage a thought or question I have, and really amplify it to fully flesh out what I was inquiring. It can break down my ideas precisely, know what I want to say, and extend it further than anything I could have imagined. In this session, it made me appreciate the nature of time more.
My AI workflow is simple: I start a conversation on a topic, whether it is something I’m thinking about or inspired by elsewhere, like a post, movie, film, video, podcast, etc. If it is an interesting topic that I’m not that familiar with and want to learn more, I will ask ChatGPT to think of various research questions on the topic, or I would simply say something to the effect: “Create a deep research prompt on our conversation, or insights we’ve discussed on x.” Then I paste that deep research prompt on the same session (ChatGPT), and/or Google Gemini (Pro), and use deep research mode. Then, once I get the report(s), I download them as a PDF file and upload them to Google’s NotebookLM. In NotebookLM, I use various tools that speed up the breakdown, like video format, slides, blogpost style, brief summary, or Q/A. I haven’t used the audio/podcast tool in a long time, since I prefer visuals.
[ChatGPT (for exploring ideas) ---> Google Gemini (for Deep Research report) ---> NotebookLM (for summary).]
If it is a topic I care deeply about and worth being ingrained in memory, I will read the reports rather than skipping to the video brief from NotebookLM.
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NotebookLM
⏳ True Duration: Newton’s Metaphysical and Mathematical Time.
These sources provide a comprehensive re-examination of Isaac Newton’s theory of time, challenging the common misconception that he viewed it simply as a mechanical “cosmic clock.” The texts outline a sophisticated four-layer framework consisting of mathematical time used for physics, measured time derived from imperfect instruments, metaphysical duration that exists independently of motion, and a theological foundation where time is an “emanative effect” of God’s eternal presence. Newton famously distinguished between absolute time, which flows uniformly by its own nature, and relative time, which represents the flawed human attempt to track duration through astronomical cycles. By analyzing primary works like the Principia and the unpublished De Gravitatione, the sources reveal how Newton defended his absolutist views against rivals like Leibniz and Descartes. While modern physics, specifically Einstein’s relativity, eventually overturned the notion of absolute simultaneity, these texts argue that Newton’s insights remain a cornerstone of scientific methodology and metaphysical inquiry. Ultimately, the overview presents Newton not as a naive mechanist, but as a thinker who deeply integrated mathematics, philosophy, and divinity to define the fabric of reality.
⏳Comparative Philosophy of Time.
These sources establish a comprehensive comparative framework for understanding the multifaceted nature of time by synthesizing perspectives from physics, philosophy, and theology. The texts categorize time into multiple layers, ranging from physical and mathematical dimensions to the internal lived duration described by phenomenologists and mystics. Major historical figures like Aristotle, Augustine, Newton, and Einstein are placed in dialogue to show how their theories—though seemingly contradictory—often address entirely different aspects of temporal reality. The analysis explores the tension between objective spacetime and subjective consciousness, while also examining how concepts like entropy and thermodynamics dictate time’s perceived direction. Additionally, the documents introduce a recursive feedback model, suggesting that temporal continuity emerges through the mind’s active loops of memory and anticipation. Ultimately, the sources argue that no single theory can fully capture the phenomenon of time, requiring instead an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach.
Social Scholarly 