Time is a Lie, and Free Will is a Joke
By Michael Kelman Portney
If you think you're in control of your life, making choices, and moving freely through the unstoppable river of time, I'm here to let you in on a secret: it's all a lie. Time doesn’t work the way you think it does, and free will is just a comforting bedtime story we tell ourselves to feel important. Let’s strip away the illusion and stare into the void together.
Time Isn’t Real (At Least, Not Like You Think)
Time feels like it flows, right? Past, present, future—one moment after the next, ticking along like some universal clock. But the truth is, time isn’t a river; it’s a block. All of time—past, present, and future—already exists.
This isn’t some stoner-level "what if" idea. It’s rooted in hard physics. Einstein’s theory of relativity shows that time is relative—it bends and stretches depending on gravity and speed. That alone should make you suspicious of its "flow." But it gets weirder. In the "block universe" theory, time is just another dimension, like height or width. Everything that has happened or will happen exists as a static structure. You’re not moving through time; you’re a 4D object, a snapshot of the universe’s full history.
What does this mean?
The "future" isn’t some blank canvas you paint with your choices. It’s already there, etched into the fabric of spacetime.
The "past" doesn’t disappear—it still exists, just as real as the "present."
So, why do we feel like time flows? That’s just your brain stitching moments together, a trick of consciousness designed to help you survive. Evolution doesn’t care about the truth. It cares about what works.
Free Will: The Ultimate Hoax
If time doesn’t flow and the future already exists, where does that leave free will? Squarely in the trash.
Every decision you think you’re making is just a domino in a chain of cause and effect stretching back to the beginning of the universe. Your "choices" are determined by your genetics, your upbringing, your environment, and the electrical activity in your brain. When you decide what to eat for breakfast, that choice was already written into the cosmic script.
But wait—it gets worse.
Neuroscience has shown that your brain makes decisions before you’re consciously aware of them. In experiments, scientists can predict what you’ll choose seconds before you "make" the choice. What feels like free will is just your brain justifying decisions it already made. You’re not the driver—you’re the PR manager, spinning the story of your life after the fact.
The Double-Illusion: How Time and Free Will Are Connected
Time and free will are two sides of the same coin, and they’re both counterfeit. If time doesn’t flow and the future already exists, then your sense of agency—your ability to "shape" the future—is a sham.
Imagine your life is a movie reel. Every frame is already filmed, from your birth to your death. You’re just the audience, watching it play out in sequence. Sure, you feel like the protagonist, making decisions and forging your path. But the plot was locked in before you ever stepped on stage.
This doesn’t mean life is meaningless. It just means you’re part of something bigger—a cosmic story unfolding in ways you can’t control.
Why This Matters
Here’s the kicker: even if time is static and free will is fake, you’ll keep living like they’re real. You’ll keep making choices, feeling regret, dreaming about the future. And that’s fine. The illusion is part of the design.
But understanding the truth can free you from a lot of unnecessary baggage. If everything is already written, why stress about it? Why beat yourself up over "bad decisions" when you had no choice in the first place?
Embracing this perspective doesn’t make life less meaningful—it makes it profound. You’re not just a speck in the universe; you are the universe, experiencing itself from one slice of the block.
The Final Paradox
You didn’t choose to read this blog. I didn’t choose to write it. The ideas here were always going to exist, just waiting for this moment in spacetime. And yet, here we are, playing our roles, living the illusion.
You’re not free, time doesn’t flow, and none of this matters. But it also matters more than anything. That’s the paradox of existence: the illusion is the reality, and the reality is the illusion.
Enjoy the ride. You were always going to.
