Topic Battle

Time presents a mystery of an altogether different character. Unlike Area 51, it conceals nothing whilst remaining fundamentally inexplicable. Physicists have demonstrated that time dilates at high velocities and in strong gravitational fields, yet cannot explain why it flows in one direction only.

Time generates fear of an altogether more fundamental character. It is the substrate within which mortality operates, the mechanism through which ageing proceeds. Every human society has developed elaborate rituals to address the terror of time's passage.

Time achieves something no classified military installation could aspire to: absolute universal reach. Every conscious entity throughout the cosmos experiences time's passage. Time simply is, and all things exist within it.

Time achieves the remarkable feat of being maximally accessible yet perpetually elusive. Every conscious being experiences time directly and continuously; no security clearance is required. Yet this accessibility yields no corresponding understanding.

Time's cultural influence transcends any individual cultural product because it is the medium through which all culture operates. Every narrative requires time for its unfolding; every piece of music exists as patterns distributed across temporal duration.