What Did Einstein's Theories Say About the Illusion of Time?

Did Einstein believe time is an illusion? Perhaps his theory of special relativity may provide a clue.

By Paul M. Sutter
Jul 7, 2023 1:00 PM
Clock fractal spiral
(Credit: Mikhail Leonov/Shutterstock)

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Yes, Einstein wrote something along the lines of “time is an illusion.” But it’s not altogether clear what Einstein meant — and to understand what he might have been saying, we must dig into the circumstances that caused him to write it.

A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion

A close friend of Einstein’s, Michele Besso, passed away in 1955. Only a month before his own death, Einstein wrote to Besso’s grieving family.

His letter said, “Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That signifies nothing. For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

Obviously, at the time of his writing Einstein had some profound thoughts about the nature of time.

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