Abstract

Lee Smolin wants to convince physicists that time is real. His biggest problem is that he does not know what time is—its intrinsic nature and its basis in the universe. He cannot answer the questions: What is time? Why does time exist? and Why does time have the specific qualities that it has? As a result, in this essay Smolin does not focus very much on time itself. Instead, he focuses on discussion of extraneous issues and unrealistic speculations. He wants to promote temporal naturalism, but does so by contrasting it with timeless naturalism, the block universe view of time, which is an unrealistic fiction. He brings up timeless naturalism, panpsychism, and relationalism, all of which distract from any attempt to show that time is real. This paper clarifies why these extraneous issues have no place in a discussion of the reality of time. Further, Smolin believes there is no such thing as the scientific method, which blocks him from any realistic attempt to understand time. Included here is a description of the scientific method and why that method is required to achieve an understanding of time.