Peter: Time can be conveniently be regarded in the three
tenses: past, future and present.
Past time is recalled by us as memories or thoughts and as such is
both a cognitive re-call and an emotional re-call. Not only was our perception of the place, people or event coloured at the time
but our recall is coloured and somewhat shaky. Current investigations suggest that in fact we only recall the last time we
recalled something rather than re-calling the original memory.
There is good scientific evidence that memories of traumatic or
fearful events are not only stored as conscious memories in the neo-cortex, but are also stored in the amygdala as
‘unconscious’ or non-cognitive memories. These memories stored in the amygdala or primitive brain give substance to ‘me’
and give substance to ‘my’ life of suffering and ‘my’ pains and hurts from the past. To dip into this treasure trove of
suffering can be a bittersweet occupation.
Future time is conceived by us as imagination and as such is
emotionally coloured. Given our over-riding instinct of fear, most of the future we see in fear ridden terms. This fear of the
future is given credence by the bountiful store of emotional memories of past hurts and fears located in the amygdala. Hence the
general future scenarios of gloom and doom, apocalypse and annihilation. To balance this we invent a ‘good’ – and always in
the future – scenario of salvation, redemption and a blissfully happy afterlife, which we pray, trust and hope will eventuate.
Present time is the closest to now , this very moment and is generally
regarded as now. The problem for the human perception of now is that there are so many things going on in the brain and the body
that the clear and direct sensate experience of experiencing this moment of being alive is impossible. The emotional affective
faculties are on constant overload, with emotional memories of the past and imaginations of the future constantly crowding in.
Added to that is the automatic neuro-biological operation of the instincts of fear, aggression, nurture and desire experienced as
overwhelming passions due to the pumping of potent chemicals into the body and brain. One is usually ‘sensing’ or ‘feeling
out’ this moment fearfully and aggressively such that the actual direct sensate experience of this moment of being alive is
impossible.
