slightest evidence for such a view of world-structure. The instantaneous state, which we have hitherto taken to be a natural stratum in the four-dimensional world of events, is merely an arbitrary partition created by ourselves to correspond with our geocentric outlook. We can take a differently inclined partition,[1] that is to say, a section which includes on the one side of us events which happened a little while ago and on the other side of us events which have not yet happened; such a farcical combination is in every way equivalent to our so-called instantaneous state, and indeed it is an instantaneous state according to the outlook of some non-terrestrial observer with suitably assigned motion.
It is so contrary to our natural prejudices to recognize that the world-wide instant NOW is created by ourselves and has no existence apart from our geocentric outlook, that I will spend a few moments trying to show its artificiality. When I say that I am conscious of an instant now, I am only conscious of it in so far as it is
HERE—inside me. What then has led me to imagine that there exists a continuation of it outside me? It is because I look out on the world and see various events
- ↑ The inclination must not exceed a certain limit. This limiting angle may be regarded as a fundamental constant of the world-structure, and owing to its fundamental character it appears in many kinds of phenomena; for example, it determines the velocity of propagation of light. The instant on the sun which is simultaneous with a given instant on the earth is indeterminate (varying according to the space and time frame employed) but only within a range of 16 minutes. Any event on the sun happening before this 16 minutes is absolutely in the past, all observers agreeing on this point; in fact it would be possible for us to have already received a wireless message announcing its occurrence. Events after the 16 minutes are in the absolute future. The neutral zone which is (absolutely) neither past nor future becomes proportionately wider as the distance increases; at the nearest fixed star it extends to 8 years, and at the most distant stars yet known it reaches 400,000 years.
