Time dominates our reality for one basic reason.
As mobile organisms, fauna developed a sequential process of perception, coupled with a process of distinction and judgement, in order to navigiate. Than humanity has developed a narrative based culture, from sharing our experiences and knowledge. So this flow of events/time is foundational to who and what we are.
The reality though, isn't the point of the present moving past to future, but change turning future to past. Tomorrow becomes yesterday, because the earth turns.
There is no literal dimension of time, because the past is consumed by the present, to inform and drive it. Causality and conservation of energy. Cause becomes effect.
Time is an effect of activity, like temperature, pressure, color, sound. Frequencies and amplitudes. Time is frequency, events are amplitude.
Ideal gas laws correlate volume with temperature and pressure, but we don't refer to them as the 5th and 6th dimensions of space, because they are only foundational to our emotions, bodily functions and environment, not the sequence of thought.
Energy is "conserved," because it is the present. It creates time. So energy, as process, goes past to future, while the patterns generated go future to past.
As consciousness goes past to future, while perceptions, emotions and thoughts go future to past. Suggesting consciousness amounts to a form of energy.
Consider that energy drives the wave, while the patterns we recognize, the fluctuations, rise and fall. Science has a similar problem with energy, as it does with consciousness, in that it can only be perceived in terms of the patterns it generates. Just as we can only ascribe definition to consciousness in terms of how it is expressed.
The Western notion of time is the future is in front and the past is behind, because we see ourselves as distinct objects moving through our environment.
The Eastern and Native American view is the past is in front and the future is behind, because the past and what is in front are known, while the future and what is behind are unknown. Which accords with their more contextual understanding, of the observer as part of the environment, since we do see events after they occur, then the energy proceeds to other events and observers.
The reality is that every action is its own clock. It is just that in order to function as a whole, whether as an individual being, or a community, it requires some sychronization. If it is a healthy being, the various parts are in harmony, but if it's unhealthy, then it's more clashing cacaphonies.
The reality is there is just this kaleidoscopic light show, with consciousness as the light shining through the passing frames of film and it is easy to get caught up in the various movements, beliefs, etc, yet we do have a mind to be able to learn to focus and steer around the more overheated and destructive goings on.
Decisions are like taking a turn in the road. The impulsive with take it too quickly and the indecisive with wait until it has passed. Often those trying to be in control simply try to make the decisions before anyone else, so society does become compulsive and obsessive. That's when you back off and take the broader view. The turtle is still plodding along, long after the rabbit has died.
Immortality isn't temporal, because there is no past or future. It is in realizing this element of awareness is the same shining through all of us and we are just this season's leaves.
