the collector ~ what is time?

I am working on another Dante post ~ the 7th Shelf of Hell. This, however, seemed worthy of sharing. The Collector seems quite philosophically related to Dante. The attraction of this show lies, not in its characters, but in the situations, conflicts and temptations placed before these characters.

Time. What, exactly, does it represent? Who, or what is time? I think of it as nature's forth dimension ~ a manifestation of the universe striving to attain balance. The cosmic expansion occurs unceasingly ~ the result of energy's constant transformation of itself. And so time forges on, as the universe reaches for a balance it shall never achieve. until ...? That's the mystery which we shall never unravel. And, why should we concern ourselves with when or whether time shall cease? Because our rationality demands this of us. Or how to thwart or accelerate its passage? Each time we attempt such folly, we only succeed in disturbing an unbalanced universe even further.

[Haven't we done enough damage? Why can't we just LIVE, already ... until we die?] Nonetheless, we fools spend our lives attempting to bring heaven down to earth, rather than working our way up to heaven. That's the wisdom I gleaned from the latest episode of only fictional TV show I ever watch ~ The Collector. I'm not one for speaking about fictional characters like they're real ... but the attraction of this show lies not in its personalities ... but in its innate, underlying wisdom, in the conflicts which it presents said personalities.

Morgan Pym's assignment for this week involved collecting the soul of a man who's 10 year deal long expired in the temporal realm, but who extended his deal (in corporeal time) unilaterally, by manipulating his own temporality with the use of a chronometer. What's a chronometer? It's a time manipulation device that looks like a pocket watch. Our man attained his chronometer through his deal with the devil. How foolish ~ to think one can fool a being (i.e. the devil) who resides outside of the realm of time! Nonetheless, the show made for an interesting portrayal of time and what it represents to our existence.

Chronometer man thinks he's so clever, zapping in and out of the present. He spends his life using the time tool as an escape hatch from confrontation and responsibility. Imagine the convenience ~ just zap oneself from the present, when when met with one of life's unpleasant challenges! At what cost? What does chronometer man discover, when he turns the dial of his new time tool all the way to the future ~ as far as it will turn? The void: a place in which time does not exist. In the void, the universe ceases to expand. Rather, the individual, himself, expands. Unceasingly. In the void, what feels like mere seconds actually equates to the passage of several years. Of course, chronometer man wastes his life trying to cheat the supernal, trying to cheat the devil, through his distortion of time ... and fails to apply himself to life ~ fails to use his intelligence and gifts for worthy, as opposed to conceited, causes.

In a truly Dante-esque fashion (the show's creator and writing team have filled it with plot threads that remind me of Dante's Inferno) chronometer man meets a fitting fate. As he spent his life distorting time, and thereby distorting the existence of so many other individuals, so will he spend his eternity. Chronometer man meets his eternal damnation by spending it in the void, where his soul will become eternally and unceasingly stretched and distorted. Balance ... its all about striving for balance.

Is that it? Of course not. Indulge me, dear reader. Let me reflect on the passage of time, and how we perceive it.

Does time continue passing, even when one make oneself absent to said passage? I suppose for that one individual it does not, in his experiential present, but for the remainder of the universe, it does. And what happens when the future has turned as far as it will turn? Do we reach the void: that place in which time does not exist? I think the void should feel like a painful place in which to exist, for temporally-bounded beings such as us. Why? Remember my consideration of time as a manifestation of the universe's expansion? Absence of time means the expansion of the universe ceases.

Still, an immutable law exists in the universe which demands balance, doesn't it? If so, something must expand, in an attempt to achieve balance. That's the individual who finds himself in the void ~ his matter, his essence must expand. But ... what if time ceased to exist because the universe had achieved balance? Then ... would anything need to expand? So ... what would this void feel like? Nothing, I suppose. I would think, even, that one could not possibly have experiential knowledge of existing in the void, by sheer definition of the void ~ how can one experience nothingness? Does our consciousness cease when time ceases? I mean, does consciousness exist as a direct function of time? Good question. Okay ~ now imagine existing in nothingness without having the experience of doing so ... would one even exist in nothingness?

Good question.