What Feynman Understood About Time That Defies All Explanation

You believe you grasp time. You check your watch. You sense yourself aging. You recall yesterday and anticipate tomorrow. Time appears self-evident. It feels like the most fundamental aspect of existence. But that isn't time. That's merely perception. A neurological illusion your mind constructs for you. Most people carry around this romantic notion in their consciousness. Time is a river. You picture it flowing, carrying you forward from what was, through what is, and toward what will be. You believe it moves. But here's what's wrong with that elegant metaphor. If time is a river, at what rate does this river flow? One second per second. That's circular nonsense. That's equivalent to declaring a chair is one chair tall. It reveals absolutely nothing about the fabric of reality. The actual nature is far stranger, far more mechanical, and frankly far less poetic than any flowing current.