Did We Invent or Discover Time?

The question, “Did We Invent or Discover Time?” hinges on how we define time. Are we referring to the underlying phenomenon that exists whether or not we observe it, or to the human-made system we use to measure it?

If by “time” we mean the quantification system, then we invented it.
If by “time” we mean the phenomenon being quantified, then we both discovered and invented it: we discovered the phenomenon and invented the tools to describe it.

Humans created quantification systems such as:
• The metric system
• Calendars
• Seconds, minutes, and hours
• Temperature scales
• Currency systems
• Musical notation

All are inventions, ways to measure and compare features of the world. None existed before we made them.

But this only addresses part of the issue. The deeper question asks what time itself is.

Option 1: Time is only a measurement system
• Then time is entirely invented.
• Nothing called “time” existed before humans.
• It’s a mental and social construct.

Option 2: Time is a real phenomenon, and our system measures it
• The phenomenon existed first, it was discovered.
• Our system for measuring it came later, it was invented.
• This is the position most people implicitly hold: time itself is real, but our way of measuring it is a human creation.

Summary:
The overwhelming majority lands on Option 2, the view that we invented the measurement system for a phenomenon that already existed.

The Question of TIME

The question of TIME relates to author Sherrie Rose’s new book, Create in the Now: From Dream to Enhavim 

1. Time as Landscape of Creation

In the book, Sherrie Rose highlights that productivity advice often focuses on mastering schedules, deadlines and hours. But that’s like trying to fix the water while you’re still standing on a dry riverbed.

Create in the NOW

The more potent shift is viewing time not merely as “slots we fill” but as a layered architecture:

• daily decisions
• decade outcomes
• century-spanning visions

When you see time this way, you move beyond “how do I get more done today?” to “how do my actions today serve what I imagine for decades?”

That shift brings enhavim which is the integration of vision, purpose and mission—into the rhythm of time. Rather than being at odds with time, you align your choices with its contours.

 

2. Dream → Enhavim → Time-Integrated Action

Rose explains that most people stop at the dream stage: large ideas, grand possibilities, maybe a vision board, but no bridge to daily momentum.

Enhavim is that bridge. It is described as:  “Purpose and mission led by vision.”

So the timeline becomes:

• Dream: The vision in its freedom and openness.
• Enhavim: The framework that anchors the vision in what, why and who, before how.
• Actions Across Time: Daily decisions are made in alignment with decade outcomes and century-spanning visions.

In this view, time is both the medium and the terrain on which enhavim unfolds. You don’t just schedule a task; you place a step in a temporal ecosystem where your everyday connects to something larger.

 

3. Invented Measurement vs. Discovered Phenomenon — Applied

• Returning to the question of time (did we invent or discover it?), let’s apply that to Create in the Now:
• We invent measurement systems (hours, minutes, metrics) for time.
• We discover the phenomenon of change, growth, causality, sequence.

Rose invites us to:

• Recognize that the “time” we schedule is a tool.
• Recognize that the phenomenon of time — the unfolding of vision, growth, mission — is real.

When we anchor our actions in enhavim, we shift from merely managing “measured time” toward engaging with “creative time” — the flow that bridges vision and life.

4. Practical Implications

 

Here are a few ideas from how this can play out:

• Instead of asking “What do I have time for today?”, ask “What step today connects to my enhavim 10, 20, 50 years out?”
• Build your schedule not just around tasks but around temporal layers:

Layer and Focus

• When you feel rushed or frantic, remind yourself that your measurement of time is one tool—but you’re operating in a larger temporal field.
• Use the concept of Enhavim to integrate your vision (what), your purpose (why) and your mission (who/how) before you pick methods or tactics (how). This aligns your actions with the larger time-architecture.

Source of responses to question:
Did we invent or discover time?
3:54 AM · Nov 8, 2025 · 57.1K Views  Physics In History @PhysInHistory  x.com

 

WE INVENTED TIME (as measurement/concept/label)

Invented the measurement system:

• “We invented the concept of time and turned it into labor” — @prashanthiz
• “we invented clocks, but time was already laughing at us…” — @scievision369
• “We invented time, what we discovered is space. Time is just a concept of moving thru space, it could have been in any parameter.” — @notsodamast
• “We invented seconds. Time and space is continuous as far as we can tell which proves universe is both digital and analogue.” — @ChrisFilipek
• “‘Time’ is an agreement. A protocol that can change in a different paradigm.” — @Politicals122
• “we invented the concept of it when we starting trying to capture it by measuring it, communicating it.” — @denn2212al
• “Label to measure” — @deeds721
• “We created time.” — @sreekanthmabbu
• “a measurement can only be created” — @PaulMulfor53198
• “We refined our measuring of the orbit around our star” — @MarcCar21836277
• “Good question. Invented relatively speaking lol” — @DoseofDarwin
• “Invent” — @theshapeofstars
• “we invent time, time can only exist in 3D world.” — @sheley_zhou
• “Time is a concept invented by Man, to make like easier” — @MargaretLulu6
• “Time is a social construct” — @Anachronism_b
• “It’s a man made invention” — @Dayhan195525
• “We measure time” — @BillJones
• “Invented it.” — @1898Deland25009
• “Time is just a concept we apply to measure/mark the eternal change.” — @sheley_zhou
• “Time is biological, hence we invented it.” — @RyaliVenkat

Named/labeled/described something existing:

• “We noticed it passing and labeled it ‘time'” — @echoesofBob
• “That’s like asking ‘did we discover the universe?’. So neither. We just gave it a name.” — @LuisAzcona
• “Whatever we call time already existed so….” — @Swaraj84240215
• “It’s a label to mark some we scarcely understand” — @dvdclaus1
• “We named it” — @Chocp4w
• “We noticed it, and named it.” — @louise3anne
• “We just described it” — @iamjustalffie

WE DISCOVERED TIME (it’s fundamental)

• “Discover” — @QLR484
• “Discovered!” — @TheJemz_VOID
• “Discover. Time definitely bends, it’s slower than the actual event” — @plutonicf7
• “Discovered.” — @bobjrfarm1
• “Discover!” — @ICPROFITS
• “Discover. But we did learn to measure and then standardize.” — @CarellaJoe
• “discovered” — @PerfectPlayerx
• “Discovered but still don’t fully understand” — @BreathAndWord
• “Discover the geometry of time” — @sigmaxyzwm1618

TIME IS FUNDAMENTAL / PRE-EXISTED HUMANS

Time existed before us:

• “It invented us, IMO” — @mtgtdy
• “The universe moves. We are the ones who call that movement time.” — @ajaycan
• “time existed before humans and we didn’t discover it per se… yet merely defined it with numbers, assigned an order to it, and named it… but like Earth, wind, rain or fire… all exist if humans weren’t” — @realeststephenp
• “Time? That bastard was always there, lurking in out there since the Big Bang belched forth reality. We didn’t invent it—we’re trapped in it, riding entropy’s one-way screaming highway toward heat death.” — @DRB1SHP
• “Time came when light came. We just reminded it of itself.” — @jortdzy
• “I defined the laws of time, yet time always existed as such” — @roydherbert
• “Our measure of time is based on our star which is meaningless in the cosmos. Time is the first dimension.” — @jokes_on_us_pal
• “Time has always existed. We invented a way to quantify and measure it.” — @jcrfear
• “God created time” — @Bornagain19880
• “Time discovered us.” — @FrankMcCallSr

Scientific/Technical perspectives:

• “Time is the physic’s cornerstone, the most fundamental unit. But it is a deducted result from distance.” — @Chiwei31857696
• “It emerges as an entropy gradient” — @giles
• “Time is functional.” — @HarryGTIII
• “Time is a measurement of motion; when motion ceases, time itself stops.” — @DanielIzzo1

BOTH / WE INTERPRETED SOMETHING EXISTING

• “We invented the human concept of time but that is an interpretation of a weird thing already existing which we probably don’t understand very well.” — @BrokenKendroid
• “We invented the time which is already discovered” — @jackspa1212
• “We just made the universe’s constant comprehensible.” — @ShijiJ13246
• “We invented a way to explain that which we discovered?” — @SensibleXianity
• “We invented a clock but discovered time.” — @TheBlitza
• “time is the measure of a cycle of nature: the vibration of a cesium atom; the rotation of the earth; the revolution of Jupiter around the sun; the life of a star. We didn’t invent these phenomena; we quantified them, for our use.” — @DAlan52376
• “we discovered the passing of events, but invented the system to measure it. time exists… clocks don’t.” — @roubalsehgal
• “We invented the means to measure time. There are many forms and all are somewhat imprecise.” — @Rocinanteismyr1
• “We invented how to calculate time, that’s all.” — @obdDamian
• “Invent and discover, I think we are on the wrong calendar..” — @LeahK79
• “time can be measured even though it has no physical form. Therefore, it is both invented and discovered!” — @AshleySCHowes
• “Discovered, but invented how to measure it? But what is time?” — @LaurenceBettle
• “Discovered how to quantify is probably best suited.” — @NiRainPeace1

SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE / PERCEPTION / CONSCIOUSNESS / AWARENESS

• “Neither, we just experience it subjectively” — @askduhon
• “we perceive time” — @RubyRocket72
• “Neither. we experienced it in our macroscopic history.” — @peter_p_light
• “We neither invented nor discovered time, we experienced time and its related to consciousness.” — @rcj1978
• “Every living thing ‘discovers’ time the moment it ‘discovers’ it remembers stuff.” — @echoesofBob
• “Time is only perception of reality…” — @SSuiteSoftware
• “We understood time!” — @sudhir_paka
• “Accepted it.” — @HARMONYSPACE_EM
• “Time is the sequence of changes in physical states. We didn’t invent or discover it. We intuited it from the moment we became aware.” — @victrmorl
• “We experienced it and we are still experiencing it” — @Immanuell0
• “Time was not invented, or discovered, is the awareness of it when a point of reference is considered-the Sun.” — @Magdale70094727

DEPENDS ON DEFINITION

• “The answer depends on how you define ‘time’.” — @oubey
• “Verb or noun ?” — @PracticalUSA94
• “The premise of this question is ‘What is time?’.” — @ji_xiang_c
• “Define time.” — @feynmansol
• “Define it” — @Midjorityrules
• “Define ‘time’ and you have your next Q…. If it’s what we measure, sure it’s invented… If we experience it, it exists before we did…” — @physiofu
• “Postulate?” — @paullewismoney

PHILOSOPHICAL / METAPHYSICAL / PLAYFUL

• “Is a tree considered fallen over if no one notices that it has fallen over?” — @QLR484
• Ruby code debugging the Universe — @hrk07
• “Time only exists in the physical realm, what Buddhists call ‘conventional reality.’ At Ultimate Reality, time doesn’t exist.” — @TruthQuest1122
• “If we didn’t invent time would aging still occur?” — @McBrenny
• “Time discovered us.” — @profexsorx
• “When ?” — @savadMG
• “For us believing physicists, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion – Albert Einstein” — @shubhamsatavx
• “We totally missed it.” — @IvanDarko
• “Time never existed. There is only forever.” — @GerhardPre31556
• “A previously unknown particle” — @UtahOligarch
• “We are Time.” — @ram_erickk
• “I imagine when ancient humans crouched in hiding with their stomachs growling they pondered time.” — @jonesjillm
• “timelessness is a concept I can’t wrap my mind… around…lol” — @EdgeRunner737
• “Meti, is time ,poised at the throat of a sktlein” — @Travis476819150
• “We blamed time” — @Perich_Suzanne
• “Time doesn’t exist. It’s a fabrication – construct of our minds.. now it is a mass hallucination..” — @ganeshrajendran
• “Does time exist?” — @PaulHPowell13

PRACTICAL / SURVIVAL

• “Gained nessesitys for survival of season of food gathering and cultivation.” — @DanielS46581338

NEITHER / UNCERTAIN

• “Neither” — @RocketStang
• “We still struggle to fully understand what causes time, but it’s fascinating.” — @miniponka
• “neither” — @Aleksandra_k888
• “neither” — @MzMac401
• “Neither. Just like we breathe AIR. We didn’t discover or invent air.” — @arunkj78
• “No one knows anything about anything. There’s so much going on in the universe we do not know or understand” — @ludiChrisRod
• “Neither !!!” — @MohanChenchala
• “Neither” — @ilovekiirth
• “Neither” — @WittgensteinsF2
• “NEITHER” — @2wordsfupayme
• “Neither”. — @VcAtrustN1_VAN

META / COMMENTARY ON THE QUESTION

• “We never really invented anything. Every ‘invention’ we have ever made is built on rearranging, combining or discovering patterns that already exist in nature.” — @kedamawisb
• “Dummiest question for the day” — @4myPown
• “Good question.” — @plluczak
• “We need time to think about dat one.” — @DouglasCar26374
• “Hang on a sec….” — @renewable_now
• “What do you mean?” — @LavryAdam84
• “I’m gonna need some time to think about this.” — @Platinum107
• “Just scratching the surface learning about time actually” — @ActsContdMedia
• “laws of physics are discovered or invented?” — @willyNgendahayo
• “What is true? You don’t have better questions?” — @ricardo17589991