Name: First Friday Discussion - Once Upon A Time...
Start: 2025-12-05T19:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-12-05T23:59:00-05:00
Location: 10353 Commonwealth Blvd

This month we'll discuss a science heavy topic of time and it's various theories. So, please watch the video she look over the material.

As usual, we'll socialize for about an hour before the discussion starts at the local spacetime of 8:30pm.

I encourage everyone to bring something yummy to share!

The ideas of Presentism and Eternalism (the Block Universe) are not just abstract academic concepts; they have profound impacts on how one views free will, moral responsibility, and the meaning of life.

​Here is how these philosophical concepts can impact someone's life:

​🧭 Impact on Free Will and Moral Responsibility

​**Presentism's Impact:** Affirming Choice ​Since Presentism asserts that only the present moment is real and the future is genuinely open and uncreated, it strongly supports the intuitive feeling of free will.

​Choice is Real: If the future is not yet determined, then the choices you make right now truly carve out the path of your life. Your actions are considered the ultimate origin of future events.

​Moral Responsibility: Because you are the author of your actions and the future is contingent upon your decisions, you are held fully and fundamentally responsible for your moral choices, successes, and failures. This view aligns with how legal and ethical systems currently operate.

​Hope and Contingency: The future is filled with genuine possibilities, fostering a strong sense of hope, motivation, and the belief that effort can change what is to come.

**​Eternalism's Impact: Challenging Agency**

​The Eternalist, or Block Universe, view suggests that all of time—past, present, and future—is fixed and equally real.

​The Illusion of Flow: Your life, from birth to death, is just a fixed path within the four-dimensional block. The feeling of time "flowing" is an illusion resulting from your consciousness moving along a predetermined sequence of events.

​Determinism: This view is often linked to Determinism, the idea that everything that happens is necessitated by prior causes. If the future is already "there," the question of whether you can truly choose otherwise becomes problematic.

​Impact on Regret/Worry: Some find comfort in this view, believing that the past is unchangeable and fixed, which can temper regret. However, it can also lead to a sense of fatalism or a reduced sense of agency, as all future events, good and bad, are also already determined within the block. If you accept the Block Universe, you might view your actions not as causing the future, but as simply being the events that occur at your specific coordinate in spacetime.

​🧘 Impact on Meaning, Stress, and Anxiety

**​Presentism: High Stakes, High Stress**
​Because only the present moment exists, the present becomes the single point of truth and action.

​High Value on the Now: There's a strong imperative to "seize the day" (carpe diem) because today is the only day that is real.

​Stress and Impermanence: The fleeting nature of the present can be a source of stress. Everything you cherish—relationships, experiences, even your own self—is constantly being swept away into the non-existent past.

**​Eternalism: Timelessness and Perspective**
​Because all moments are equally real, one's life is viewed as an eternal object in the universe.

​Holistic View of Life: Your life is not a sequence of moments, but a single, coherent structure. This can offer a powerful, detatched perspective on temporary setbacks; a bad year is just one part of an existing whole.

​Reduced Anxiety: Worries about a future that is unreal are replaced by the understanding that the future event is already a fact (even if you haven't experienced it yet). This can be highly comforting for some, leading to a kind of tranquil acceptance.

​Focus on Experience: Since the block is static, the focus shifts from changing the future to experiencing and understanding the totality of reality.

**​In essence, Presentism emphasizes action, responsibility, and the power of the moment, while Eternalism emphasizes acceptance, perspective, and the timelessness of existence.**

[https://youtu.be/MAScJvxCy2Y?si=QXpQwOgMBMNCVCON](https://youtu.be/MAScJvxCy2Y?si=QXpQwOgMBMNCVCON)

[https://share.google/ZWFqQ42D8KUHqu1kB](https://share.google/ZWFqQ42D8KUHqu1kB)

[https://share.google/vt3gLqqm9u1L69lsR](https://share.google/vt3gLqqm9u1L69lsR)

Jared R

Megan

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First Friday Discussion - Once Upon A Time...

10353 Commonwealth Blvd

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First Friday Discussion - Once Upon A Time...

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