From Ed Subitzky
Michael Slezak poses the tantalising question, “If time does not flow, what makes us think it does?” (5 September, p 30). The answer to this question may not lie in physics, but in neuroscience or even in philosophy.
For aeons, both scientists and philosophers have tried to get to grips with what they call the “qualia” of our daily experience – the direct and seemingly irreducible “redness” of red, the “blueness” of blue. It is hard to believe that such things exist objectively in our universe, so they appear to be “subjective” creations of the brain.
Are time and space simply the canvas upon which qualia play out, or are they themselves qualia, just like red and blue? If so, time and space are subjective. If time is real, then it is perhaps not so surprising that the brain, existing within time, gives us the impression of time. If time is unreal, the mystery of the illusion is a deep one, indeed.
New York, US
