Saturday, July 13, 2013

time & history, a perspective

I'm going to interrupt my A Queer History of the United States study to point out something about time that I've unearthed over the past 2-3 years. There is a school of thought that says there is no past, present or future. It says that they all exist in the same moment and that ''time'' is cyclical and not linear and does not exist as we know it. It also says that the ''past, present and future'' are all in constant flux and are always changing. There are other layers/areas to this school of thought that talk about parallel universes and time travel, which I'm not going to get into here but they are a part of the subject.
     Anyhow, the reason I'm bring this up is because, if it is true, it changes not only the way we perceive time but also the way we perceive history. And I'm not exactly sure how. Does it mean that all history is one big lie? And how can past, present and Future all exist in the same moment? What would cyclical time ''feel'' like? One thing I'm getting from this is that if time is ''cyclical'' then that would mean it is fluid and traversal. And if it is fluid and traversal then it is changeable.
    I cannot say that I totally understand cyclical time and the simultaneity of past, present and future but I can say that it does put a new spin on history which, along with writing, is my great love. Okay, so I'm married to writing and to history. I guess that makes me a polygamist. Well, I can live with that! My conclusion regarding this new perspective, as it relates to history, is that the past is ''fluid'' but the basic story or environment is what it is, or should I say is what it was!  I think there is still a light in the window for history buffs like me but it might flicker a little differently. How differently remains to be seen.

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