Linear vs Cyclic Time

[polaris]

I need some help trying to understand these two concepts (and any others that are out there)...

Mainstream science aka christian thought aka european mindset are all on the side that time is linear, it started some time ago and continues toward infinity...
In contrast, is the Mayan concept of time - that time is cyclical in nature.

It is my view that both are correct i.e.,time is linear from the perspective of the centre, the point of the Big Bang some 15 Gazillion (earth) years ago that brings us to today.
Cyclic time is from earth's perspective, developed and meant for those who dwell on earth.

Some of the larger cycles I see are:
- precession of the equinoxes aka the 12 signs of the zodiac being ~= e. 25,000 years
- an obvious one being the orbit of the planets (and all solar objects)
- mayan sun calendar = 1,872,000 e. days
- 365.2424 e. days

Are the two concepts of time mutually exclusive? Are there other concepts out there?

[Theseeker189]

Just recently I've encountered the same problem, what exactly is time? I have to look it as a measurement of movement.(kinda)
its both cylindrical and lineal, or non-linear which could result back into linear which would be cylindrical!

I spent about 3 months thinking about this, and my best shot at describing "time" is that it doesn't really exist. Or giving an idea of when something may accrue.

Isn't interesting how the mayans and other ancient civilizations knew of the stars and ~25,000 year cycles can repeat? giving that the "normal HUMAN life" is and ranges from x to the hundred years, back then in ancient time were told it was much shorter maybe reaching in the 50's!!

so the question I've moved to now( after coming to an explanation or terms of time) is how did it even begin? when did we start knowing we've been here for 13.9 billion years or whatever? could we be off by a few years?

[Buzi-Blu]

Just recently I've encountered the same problem, what exactly is time? I have to look it as a measurement of movement.(kinda)
its both cylindrical and lineal, or non-linear which could result back into linear which would be cylindrical!

I spent about 3 months thinking about this, and my best shot at describing "time" is that it doesn't really exist. Or giving an idea of when something may accrue.

More thoughts too. Often when hearing about quantum mechanics it is stated that a particle can be in two places at the same time. This to me tells us something is badly wrong in our understanding of time.

Even on the larger, every day scale it's difficult to grasp the concept. Is the rate of that time passes in our heads? Before atomic clocks and such we regulated it from looking at the Sun and planets. To improve accuracy more and more objects were included so that their motions could be averaged out. This clearly shows to link between changing position and time; the two depend on each other and are meaningless in isolation.

Random thoughts here.... Imagine a diagram plotting position against time (colliding billiard balls for example) where position is the x axis and time is the y axis. Now, could this be read left to right instead? the pattern of plotted positions and connecting lines remain fixed but the interpretation depends on how we orientate our axes.

With regards to linear of cyclic, is this on a universal scale or earth-based scale? I tend to think time is a property only of the universe, just as up/down, left/right and forward/backward are. As I've said elsewhere, time could be a bit like the North/South direction on a globe. Off the surface of the globe the direction South means nothing, and of course at the South Pole there is no South. In a situation like this time could be cyclic - not so much as things repeating, more as a fixed unchanging structure. The universe could be any shape and some have interesting properties. This kind of study of shapes and dimensions used to be quite popular in the 19th century but not so much now. Instead, we only get rather simplistic speculations of the universe (closed/open/flat) that miss a whole load of other scenarios. The only one that said any sense was Homer Simpson when he said it's donut shaped.

Time and gravity are where we need a breakthrough in science. These are the two fundamentals that were the very first to be studied but they remain almost as baffling as ever while so many other discoveries have been made. Oh, I've waffled on again and got no further forward

[Moon]

Time is like a river: You can dam it up, move upstream and even reverse its flow (Chicago River). That is my simplistic view on this rather complex subject.

[yerock III stoneman]

I think "time" is an expression by "intelligent" life used to describe movement/vibration. Without said "intelligent" life, there is no "time".
That's why we can't go back in time - we can't change all that movement/vibration to it's original state. We can however, look back at the light waves (and other signatures) from previous movements/vibrations.
Just my time for a quirky input.
... Peace.

[polaris]

Just recently I've encountered the same problem, what exactly is time? I have to look it as a measurement of movement.(kinda) It is exactly, measuring earth's journey through space...with time ...using the day count...
its both cylindrical and lineal, or non-linear which could result back into linear which would be cylindrical! Both are true and which is used depends on what's being measured

I spent about 3 months thinking about this, and my best shot at describing "time" is that it doesn't really exist. Or giving an idea of when something may accrue. I am of the view it does...

Isn't interesting how the mayans and other ancient civilizations knew of the stars and ~25,000 year cycles can repeat? giving that the "normal HUMAN life" is and ranges from x to the hundred years, back then in ancient time were told it was much shorter maybe reaching in the 50's!! And "mainstream science" continues to deny the existence of their gods! Incredible!

so the question I've moved to now( after coming to an explanation or terms of time) is how did it even begin? While it is an unanswered question, we should really find answers to say the last 30,000 years
when did we start knowing we've been here for 13.9 billion years or whatever? When they began to "collapse the Big Bang" to find its epicentre, could we be off by a few years?what's a few years when the numbers are that big...

The more I read of ancient timekeeping methods the more I see they are all synchronous and that means all five races were taught by the same people!