The way we perceive time can do a lot to frame our reality. We are an egocentric species so we mostly view time in terms of our lifespans. We see a hundred years as a long time and a thousand years as a very long time. Our limited understanding of time gives us a skewed perception of the processes and history of the planet.
In reality the average life of a human, about 80 years, is very short. The planet is about 4.5 billion years old, simple life is about 3.8 billion years old, the earliest humans first appeared about 2.5 million years ago, and only 200,000 years ago our species, homo sapiens, evolved and started using stone tools. Even our species is quite young in relation to deep time.
A basic understanding of deep time can help us find perspective on our current society. Though our species has been around for about 200,000 years we only started to come up with concepts such as nations, empires, religions, and economies in the last 5,000 years. In the last century alone we have developed technologies that allow us to communicate across the globe instantaneously and travel across it in a matter of hours. Our global population also went from about two billion people to eight billion people.
When we can see time in a less egocentric manner we can start to find different perspectives on the issues of our present era. When we see the span of a human life as relatively short then we can start to understand why a world that has changed so much in the last hundred years is creating so much uncertainty, chaos, fear, violence, and anxiety.
A more comprehensive understanding of deep time can help us better use the time we have here. It can put into focus the brevity of our personal existence and human experience. It can pull us closer to nature. It can help us see our ourselves as a part of nature instead of being separate from nature.
It can also make concepts such as evolution and climate change easier to understand. It brings a sense of optimism to our existence. The wheels of time and history will carry forward despite what we as a species do. Understanding deep time affords one the opportunity to not bear the weight of the world. We did not invent the world. It was spinning before we got here and will continue to spin once we are gone.
Deep time is a threat to many institutions that want us to believe that we are all-powerful and superior to other species. We indeed have characteristics that no other species before us has had, but that doesn’t make our presence here any more important. We are just a single step in a very long staircase.
When we can start to grasp the concept of deep time we can loosen our grip of control. We are simply another generation of folks that are fortunate enough to not only experience life, but also belong to a species that is aware of its own consciousness. We can appreciate our existence because we are aware of its impermanence.
Keeping a proper perspective of time can also allow us to see the human-created world as the game that it is. We’ve come up with systems to distribute resources and make meaning of our existence, but those are simply constructs of a species that is flailing in the uncertainty of deep time.
We take our sacred texts and legal documents so serious, but they’re just fictions that we’ve all been coerced into believing. People trying to make sense of their existence over time created stories that gave them comfort and a sense of order. We turned these stories into culture, religion, economy, etc.
They are just stories that when viewed through a lens of deep time have little real bearing or meaning. Sure I need to play my part to ensure that my family has the proper resources to survive and prosper, but recognizing it as a game makes it easier.
An understanding of deep time will reconnect us to nature. Not only will it expose the hubris of our species, but it will also force us to realize that we are natural. We did not come from nature then rise above it. We have come from nature and our obsession with trying to escape that fact has led us to do terrible things to each other and to our planet.
Becoming familiar with the concept of deep time can also give one hope in a world that at times seems hopeless. I often speak of the next phase of human existence being one of compassion, empathy, and cooperation. My understanding of deep time is a critical component of that belief.
In the past 80 years we have created technologies and systems that have the potential of destroying life on the planet. Atomic energy and its misuse could end all life on this planet in a very short time. Continuing to disrupt the delicate balance of our ecology could result in a multitude of unforeseen consequences that could over time end life on the planet.
We’ve been on the path towards destruction for about a century. Our values have been misaligned. We’ve put competition above cooperation. We’ve put indifference ahead of compassion. And we’ve favored apathy over empathy. That can only hold for so long. We will either continue to operate in that manner with that set of values and destroy ourselves or we will rediscover virtue and move into a new era.
I believe we will move towards virtue, but I do not believe that it will happen soon. That is why my understanding of deep time not only gives me hope in the present, but also provides hope for the future. The only deep future that exists is one where we’ve moved past the petty differences of our current man-made game and decide to play by a new set of rules that selects for cooperation, compassion, and empathy.
I appreciate your attention and hope you’ve found value in this.
Thanks for reading.
Billy's Briefs 