Scientific understanding postulates that there is no such thing as what used to be considered “eternity.“ The time of the universe begins and ends, and all inbetween is constant change. No perfect clockwork, no Olympian gods. Theoretical mathematicians sell books about it.
As far as we can tell, culture before history was focused on the present moments. Recognition of past and future was extremely limited. More than that, it was hardly important. To learn the rules of the tribe, the simple artifacts, traditions, the cycle of the seasons was about as long as anyone needed. Shamans sold visions of beyond on request.
Agricultural civilization brought record-keeping, which led to writing, and history was invented. Suddenly there were long periods to consider, people who had died to be aware of. A sense of more than the moment. Priests sold maps of the ineffable to the gullible.
Expanded time horizons _ actually a new sense of extended linear time. And wonder about death, speculation about what happens after death. What do these speculations mean for the living. Folks sold themselves wills, great works, promises of being remembered forever.
Well, we still don’t have answers. Some fear death, some search to overcome it with mighty deeds, some ignore it. Probably as a condition of sanity, most of us live in the moment still. Science is little help. We do not _ most likely we cannot _ truly understand the nature of time. Nor our place in time, nor how our consciousness fits into what used to be eternity.
But for a nickel or a dollar, there are still lots of folks who are quite willing to sell you what they think they know.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 