Physicist: The universe is a continuous process and “spacetime” is an illusion.

Lebanon Today

At the heart of our understanding of the universe lies a hidden fabric called “spacetime,” a concept coined by Albert Einstein more than a century ago.

Spacetime is a physical concept that unifies time and space into a single four-dimensional fabric. This fabric is space itself, and space is not just a place where the universe exists, but it is the universe in its geometric aspect.

Imagining spacetime is difficult because as humans, we live in three dimensions. Imagining four dimensions requires the use of mathematics.

Now, imagine that space and the present moment are just lines on a mental map, and that this fabric that we consider the basis of existence may not exist at all.

This is the bold idea proposed by Canadian physicist “Darryl Janzen” from the University of Saskatchewan: spacetime does not exist.

“Janzen” specializes in cosmology and philosophy. By combining them, he came to the conclusion that one of the biggest misconceptions in modern physics is the assumption that spacetime is a real “thing,” like a physical fabric or a cosmic stage on which events unfold.

Public culture usually helps to reinforce this idea, as we often simplify spacetime as a rubber “mat” stretched at the edges, as soon as we put something heavy on it, such as an iron ball, it bends, which is equivalent to the curvature of spacetime with the presence of stars.

But what “Janzen” proposes is a completely different perspective: spacetime is not an existing entity, but rather a mathematical logic or conceptual framework that connects events to each other, such as the lines of longitude and latitude on a map of the Earth that connect cities and seas, without actually existing in nature.

The researcher explains that there is a fundamental difference between what “exists” and what “happens.” Physical things, such as planets, mountains, and humans, exist because they have continuity in time and occupy space in place.

As for events, such as stellar explosions or the moment a star is born, they happen and then end. Therefore, it cannot be said that spacetime, which is an assembly of events, “exists” as matter exists.

This proposition does not diminish Einstein’s genius, but rather complements it in a new way. If spacetime is just a mental map, then our understanding of the universe will change radically, as the universe will not be a vessel containing things, but rather a network of constantly changing relationships.

Thus, every moment we live is not a point on a rigid timeline, but a unique flash of existence in an infinite sea of occurrence.

In the philosophy of physics, the “presentism” point of view sees that only the present is the real thing that exists in this existence, and the future and the past are things that “existed” or “will exist” but are not a reality.

The other point of view, called “eternalism,” stands against it, which says that the past, present, and future are all objective reality, but we just do not realize it because we are limited in perception.

When researchers like “Janzen” say that spacetime does not exist, they do not mean that the universe or time is an illusion, but rather that spacetime is not a “physical entity” in itself, but rather a mathematical or conceptual framework that describes the relationships between events.

That is, what really exists are the events themselves, not the “stage” on which they occur. This idea stands in direct criticism of the “eternalism” school.

But “Janzen” also does not completely agree with presentism, which cuts time into separate snapshots, making each moment end completely before the other begins, as if existence goes out and ignites without continuity, and this also does not explain the natural connection that makes the universe evolve smoothly from one state to another.

In this context, he follows an approach that says that spacetime is not “existent,” whether as a huge mass that governs all of the universe’s history or as a flash that governs a single moment.