The perception of time's passage is an intricate illusion crafted by consciousness. Modern physicists and ancient sages agree: time exists in multiple paradoxical forms.
Einstein's Block Universe
In relativity theory, past and future events coexist in a "block universe." Our conscious experience of moving through time is akin to being trapped within 2D shadows of a 4D reality.
"Time is not a line but a shadow that curves in upon itself."
- From *Spacetime Geometry*, Einstein
Bergson's Duration
Henri Bergson proposed an alternative: élan vital, a continuous flow of experience. Modern neuroscience shows this aligns with how the brain constructs temporal consciousness.
The Now Paradox
We cannot inhabit the "now" - by the time you perceive this moment, it has already passed. Yet we persist in experiencing a fluid continuum.