uot.md

Before we start

If you plan to get anything out of the present

You are wrong

All I WANT IS MONEY

Purpose of the presentation

1. GET THE MONEY
2. Get everyone to understand why McTuggert thinks time is unreal

Tools we need:

1. non color-blind eyes
2. Summary slides For example:

Summary

1. Premise 1
2. Premise 2
3. Premise 3

C. Conclusion

I will pause at every summary slide, please give me money at that moment

Welcome to

the Unreality of Time

What makes time real ?

1. Able to account for change
2. Able to tell when an event happened
3. Having a direction

Change

Time should be able to talk about change

Without change there will be no time

(Shoemaker:...)

Able to tell when an event happened

This should be self explanatory.

Telling when did something happen really seems essential to time

The trick is you have to do it consistently

Direction

Intuitive ? Not very important to the argument anyway

Three series of Time

How do we usually describe about time ?

C series of time

Order through a sequence of events

• DC server is created
• I joined the DC server
• I am presenting Unreality of Time
• loC opens the rob function
• RayRay ascends to heaven

No direction

1 2 3 4 5

or

5 4 3 2 1

• RayRay ascends to heaven
• loC opens the rob function
• I am presenting Unreality of Time
• I joined the DC server
• DC server is created

No Change

Why we will look at it later

C series is not the ultimate series of Time

B series of time

Let's add a direction to C series

Example

1. DC server is created
2. I joined the DC server
3. I am presenting Unreality of Time
4. loC opens the rob function
5. RayRay ascends to heaven

Each event is earlier than the bottom event

There is direction now

Because the "earlier" relation gives a direction

Is there Change in B series ?

What does change really mean ?

One can try to define a model of change

Change model 1

Change is when some event ceased to be an event,

and another event began

The events stayed in place.

Event never ceases to have a place as itself in B series

Event can't end

Change 1 doesn't work in B series

Change model 2

Change is when one event M merges

itself into another event N

They have common part but not all parts are the same

Or else they can be think of as the same event

Same problem

Change 2 also doesn't work in B series

Change model 3

Change means an statement is true in a moment and false in another moment

Example

"我講the unreality of time"

This is true now

but this sentence is false for yesterday

Can B series talk about this change ?

The statement has to be evaluated at a moment

But at what moment ?

There is no a special moment in B series

Statement also doesn't change

"我在2021/6/21 講the unreality of time" is always true

"我在2021/6/20 講the unreality of time" is always false

Change 3 also doesn't work in B series

Btw C series suffers the same problem as B series

B is not complete

1. if time is real, events has to change
2. Events doesn't change in B series

C. B series doesn't describe time completely

B series is not Ultimate to time

Eternalism

B series usually hold an eternalism position

What does that mean ?

Block Universe View

The past, present and future are equally real

Because there are no special moments on B series

A series of time

A series grouped events into 3 group

• Past
• Now
• Future

The flowing of time

DC server is created

I joined the DC server

I am presenting Unreality of Time

loC opens the rob function

RayRay ascends to heaven

Timeline view

There is direction

Obviously

There is change

Events moves from future

To present

To past

A series is Ultimate

Eternalism + A series = Moving Spotlight theory

Past present and future all exists, but now is special

Presentism

Only present things exists

Growing Block Theory

Only past and present things exists

As time pass, the things that exists increases.

It is growing

Summary

1. There are 3 models of time, A series, B series and C series
2. B and C can't describe change
3. models that can't describe change can't describe time fully

C. Only A series can describe time fully

can A series tell us when something happened ?

The second/hardest part of the argument begins

No

Why ?

1. All events shouldn't be in more than one state: the past, present, and future , in the A series
2. All events have all 3 states: in the past, present and future, in the A series

C. A series is contradictory

Premise 1

if we cant distinguish an event from being past, present and future then A series seems useless

Objection:

I am presenting unreality of time,

this event is in the past, present and the future,

but it makes sense.

they are different part of the events

Premise 2

Let's bring up the story again

1. DC server is created
2. I joined the DC server
3. I am presenting Unreality of Time
4. loC opens the rob function
5. RayRay ascends to heaven

Let's focus on the 3rd event here (I am presenting)

When I joined the DC server,

• DC server was created (in the past)
• I joining the DC server (is in the present)
• I presenting Unreality of time (is in the future)

"I presenting unreality of time" have the "future" property

When I am presenting (now)

• I joined the DC server (in the past)
• I am presenting Unreality of Time (is in the present)
• loC opens rob function (is in the future)

"I presenting unreality of time" have the "present" property

When loC opens the rob function

• I presented Unreality of Time (is in the past)
• loC opens rob function (is now)
• RayRay BECOMES GOD (is in the future)

"I presenting unreality of time" have the "past" property

That's just bulls#%t

The first premise only asks us not to group them at the SAME TIME

Events have their A series property at different time

I am presenting

• was in the future
• is now happening
• will be in the past (let's hope we can finish it ok ?)

Summary

1. An event cannot be past, present and future at the same time in the A series
2. An event are all past, present and future at different time in the A series

C. There is no contradiction in A series.

for now

Hurray Time is saved

Not so fast

To say an event are past, present and future at different time,

we need to assume time is real

Aren't we begging the question here ?

Objection: This means time is ultimate

Fine, but there is still a contradiction here

Nature of A series properties

Are they relational ?

Not relational

Then the events seems to have all properties at the same time

the properties doesn't change with time

Relational

related to what ?

Events ?

That just get right back to B series

To talk about when in A series:

I want to say "I joined the DC server in the past"

Which past ?

• the past in the past ?
• The past in the present ?
• the past in the future ?

The past in the present

Which present ?

Which present ?

• the present in the past ?
• The present in the present ?
• the present in the future ?

The present in the present

Infinite loop

You cant tell when something happened

Time is unreal