Time (Reconstructed)


Time (Reconstructed)

Overview

Time is traditionally described as the fourth dimension in physical theories of the universe, a continuous coordinate that progresses uniformly and irreversibly. In classical mechanics, time is an external parameter; in relativity, it is fused with space; and in quantum mechanics, it serves as a backdrop for unitary evolution. Despite its centrality in all physical models, the true origin and nature of time remain unresolved.

Triadic Theory of Cognition/Collapse/Computation (TTC) offers a foundational reinterpretation of time as a derivative quantity, emerging from deeper cognitive, geometric, and informational processes in the universe. In this model, time is not an external axis or fixed background — it is a semantic, geometric, and inferential phenomenon.

Definition 

Time is the directional flow of collapse in a curved semantic manifold.

In TTC, reality is represented as a semantic manifold (π“œ), on which meaning, attention, and inference operate. Time emerges when a system transitions irreversibly from a superposed or uncertain state to a collapsed or determined state due to information discrepancy.

Mathematically:

d2Ξ³ldt2=−∇lI(x)\frac{d^2 \gamma^l}{dt^2} = -\nabla^l \mathcal{I}(x)

where:

  • Ξ³(t)\gamma(t): Inference path

  • I(x)\mathcal{I}(x): Information discrepancy field

  • ∇l\nabla^l: Semantic gradient operator

TTC Triad Applied to Time

LayerRole in Time
Structure (S)The semantic manifold π“œ with metric gijg_{ij}, curvature Rjkliβ„›^i_{jkl}, and connection Ξ“ijlΞ“^l_{ij}
Motion (M)Inference flows and wavefunction propagation (ψ(x), γ(t))
Transformation (T)Collapse events (e.g., when ∇ℐ · A > ΞΈ) that trigger irreversible state transitions — this is the arrow of time

Orientation in Geometry

In traditional spacetime (Minkowski or GR), time is orthogonal to the three spatial axes.
In TTC, time is orthogonal to reversible semantic flows.

That is:

  • Inference (unitary evolution, ψ) flows along the manifold

  • Time is the normal vector to this surface — it "drops" when collapse occurs

Time is not "in" the manifold; it is the displacement caused by collapse of meaning structures.

Time vs Change

TTC clarifies a philosophical ambiguity:

“Time doesn’t cause change; change causes time.”

In particular, semantic change — a shift in the informational discrepancy field — triggers a collapse that generates the next state, and thus the next moment.

⏳ Time in Classical Physics

In General Relativity (GR), time is the 4th dimension of spacetime — a continuous geometric parameter that:

  • Is always increasing (locally)

  • Is measured by change (clocks, oscillations)

  • Is at 90° (orthogonal) to the three spatial axes in Minkowski geometry

But that’s geometry — not mechanism.
What is time actually “doing” in reality?

🧠 TTC View of Time

In Triadic Theory of Cognition/Collapse/Computation (TTC):

Time is not a fixed axis — it is the emergent direction of semantic collapse in a curved inference manifold.

πŸ”Ί TTC Decomposition

TTC RoleTime Meaning
Structure (S)The manifold (π“œ), containing semantic states, fields, and curvature
Motion (M)Flow of inference (ψ(x), γ(t), attention vector A(x))
Transformation (T)Collapse: irreversible change due to surprise (∇ℐ(x), ∇β„›·A > ΞΈ) — this is time

⏳ Time = directional transformation of meaning under collapse
It is not a passive coordinate — it’s the gradient of change in a semantic-physical manifold.

πŸ”„ So What Is Time "At 90° To"?

🧭 In TTC Terms:

Time is orthogonal to reversible structure-preserving inference paths.\boxed{ \text{Time is orthogonal to reversible structure-preserving inference paths.} }

That is:

⬛ Time is 90° to:

  • The space of possible meaning (ψ(x) over Ο†α΅’(x))

  • The semantic geodesics that define coherent inference

  • The unitary evolution in QM (which is symmetric in time)

  • The field equations of GR (which are also symmetric)

Time emerges orthogonally from:

  • Collapse

  • Surprise

  • Irreversible choices

  • Gradient descent in ℐ(x)

🧠 Visualization:

Imagine a semantic manifold like a 3D topographical map. Inference flows "along" the surface — seeking low ℐ(x).
But collapse forces a drop down — perpendicular to the surface.
That perpendicular drop is time in TTC.

πŸ•³️ Time is the normal vector to the semantic inference surface.

⏳ Summary: Time in TTC

FeatureClassical ViewTTC View
Dimension4th coordinateEmergent from collapse
SymmetryTime-reversible equationsIrreversible semantic transition
OrientationOrthogonal to spaceOrthogonal to inference
GeneratorProper time / metricℐ(x) gradient + ∇β„› · A collapse trigger
FlowUniversalLocal, semantic, field-coupled

Relation to Physics

DomainStandard Model ViewTTC View
Classical MechanicsAbsolute time parameterEmerges from transformation in semantic structure
General RelativityCoordinate on 4D manifoldCollapse-induced curvature direction
Quantum MechanicsParametric backdropCollapse axis
QFT / SMNot emergentFrozen snapshot of semantic evolution
TTCNot primitiveEmergent vector from ∇ℐ(x)

Mass, Surprise, and Semantic Inertia

Mass — the source of spacetime curvature in GR and Higgs mechanism in SM — is reinterpreted in TTC as:

The resistance to semantic transformation under collapse.

This defines semantic inertia, and thus the rate at which time passes through a system (slower in high-mass = high-information-resistance contexts).

Generating Time from Meaning

Collapse Rule:

x∗=arg⁡min⁡I(x)x^* = \arg\min \mathcal{I}(x)

When the system reaches a tipping point where attentional curvature + semantic discrepancy exceeds a threshold:

∇R⋅A>ΞΈ\nabla β„› · A > ΞΈ

→ Collapse occurs, meaning reconfigures, and a new moment is generated. This is semantic time — discrete, directional, irreversible.

Implications

  • Time is not a container but a process.

  • Time is not fundamental but emergent from semantic collapse.

  • Time is not linear but curvature-bound — flows vary across semantic space.

  • Time travel = semantic reentry into a prior configuration — not spatial translation.

See Also

References

  • Triadic Theory of Cognition/Collapse/Computation (TTC) — internal framework

  • Wheeler, J. A. “Law without Law.”

  • Rovelli, C. Quantum Gravity

  • Fuchs, C. QBism: Quantum Bayesianism

  • Deutsch, D. The Fabric of Reality

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cattle Before Agriculture: Reframing the Corded Ware Horizon

  πŸ“˜ Table of Contents Cattle Before Agriculture: Reframing the Corded Ware Horizon πŸ“– Introduction The Herd Before the Harvest Rethinking Prehistoric Europe Through Bovine Logics Why Corded Ware? Why Cattle? Why Now? Part I – Genesis of the Pastoral Horizon Chapter 1 – Steppe Streams: Genetic and Cultural Migrations The Yamnaya Vector and the Hybrid Birth of Corded Ware DNA, Ancestry, and the Fusion of Lifeways Chapter 2 – Precedents in the Grass: Before the Fields Were Plowed Neolithic Cattle Economies Globular Amphora, Forest Edges, and Early Herding Ritual Part II – Life Along the Hoofprint Chapter 3 – Herding as World-Building Mobility as Infrastructure Pastoral Time, Space, and Kinship Chapter 4 – Ritual Hooves: Cattle in Cosmology and Burial Death, Memory, and the Bovine Afterlife Cattle as Ancestor and Guide Chapter 5 – Beasts of Status: Property, Exchange, and Prestige Bridewealth, Feasting, and Symbolic Wealth ...
Read more

Hilbert’s Sixth Problem

πŸ“˜ Hilbert’s Sixth Problem: Derivation of Fluid Equations via Boltzmann’s Kinetic Theory A Recursive Treatise on Modeling, Collapse, and Axiomatic Boundaries I. Introduction: The Promise and Paradox of Axiomatization 1.1 Hilbert’s Sixth Problem and the Century It Shaped 1.2 From Newtonian Mechanics to Continuum Fluids 1.3 Derivation as Collapse:  Primer 1.4 The Architecture of this Inquiry II. The Kinetic Middle Layer 2.1 Boltzmann Equation as Interpretant 2.2 Molecular Chaos and the Birth of Entropy 2.3 Time, Irreversibility, and the H-Theorem 2.4 From Particles to Distributions: Conceptual Recasting III. Fluid Equations as Limits of Complexity 3.1 Hydrodynamic Limits and Knudsen Scaling 3.2 Chapman-Enskog Expansion: Axiomatic Drift 3.3 Navier-Stokes and Beyond: Burnett, Grad, and Fluctuation 3.4 Limits of Derivation: Where Equations Cease to be True IV. The BBGKY Hierarchy and Collapse Logic 4.1 Many-Body Dynamics and the BBGKY Chain 4....
Read more

Semiotics Rebooted

  Table of Contents:   Introduction Toward a Living Science of Meaning 1. Semiotics Rebooted: From Taxonomy to Process 1.1 What Is Semiotics? Beyond the Classic Definitions 1.2 Why Semiotics Matters for AI, Society, Biology, and Technology 1.3 Collapse of the Old Models: Structuralism, Semiotic Fatigue, and Drift 1.4 The Need for Dynamical, Processual, and Field-Based Approaches 2. Theoretical Foundations and Contemporary Shifts 2.1 Peirce’s Triad and Its Limits in the Age of Recursion 2.2 The Move from Structures to Relations: The Ontology of Process 2.3 Signs, Affect, and Diagrammatics: From Representation to Resonance 2.4 Signs, Emergence, and Collapse: Toward a Physics of Meaning 3. Field Theories of Meaning 3.1 Introduction to Seething Tension Field Theory (STFT): Meaning as Field Dynamics 3.2 Tension Fields, Bifurcation, and Collapse: When Meaning Emerges or Fails 3.3 Feedback, Resonance, and Turbulence in Symbolic Systems 3.4 Criticality, ...
Read more