Time is not a circle

Some people have been saying that time is a circle.

They think that everything that happens has happened before, and will happen again, at least in some form. They think that our world has a habit of repeating itself. They think that we’re “cursed with eternal repetition”.

The line

Once upon a time, our universe started. Then nine billion years happened. Then our planet formed. Then four and a half billion years happened.

Can you visualise the timeline?

The line

On the far left it’s the start of the universe. On the far right it’s the present day.

• The full timeline represents the age of the universe.
• One third of the timeline represents the age of planet earth.
• One hundredth of the timeline represents the time between the rise and fall of the dinosaurs.
• And the entirety of human existence can fit into a section that’s zero point zero zero two percent of the whole timeline.

As a species, the dinosaurs lasted over 500 times longer than we have so far.

Your entire life, assuming you live to 100 years old, fills up 0.0000007% of the line.

Time is a line

We’re not cursed with eternal repetition because we’re cursed with a start and end.

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