My Timeline Theory

Galileo. Da Vinci. Mona Lisa. Crispin Glover. Homer. Salvador Dali. Osmosis Jones. The Wright Brothers. Wall-E. Aristotle. Raphael the Ninja Turtle. Raphael the Painter. Me. What commonality does this group share? What through-line, if any?

All were misunderstood. Often told their ideas and creative works were too "out there". They weren’t truly appreciated in their time. Some were burned at the stake. Others, banished to stars in space without names (the far ones science and microscopes can’t see). All knew there was something more. Something that needed exploration. They could see things others couldn’t.

As far back as recorded history tracks (dinosaurs, protozoa, land mammals, germs, etc.), Earth’s inhabitants were drawn to the measurement of time. Homo Erectus was our first two legged ancestor to wear a watch. The Romans were know for their "super-minutes" (five Earth minutes). Pterodactyls flew south for the winter each day because the sun got hot and the moon was cold.

FIG 1. FLYING SOUTH

I share the same fascination and, as a part time treasure hunter, have seen how time works first hand (clock puzzles in tombs, sun dial puzzles in tombs, birthday puzzles in tombs). The academics in this area have done incredible work documenting our collective recorded history. Albeit, I believe they’ve missed something crucial.

My Timeline Theory, at this point, is only that: A theory. And while I’m working on getting additional funding from Sweden’s renowned Time and Money and Space Institute to investigate these discoveries further, this article, and the visual aids within it, will act as my attempt to explain The Timeline Theory in its entirety.

FIG 2. A CONSTRUCT

Before diving in, we must first establish a few things:

1. The measurement of time began at some point. Most likely by a bird or a fish with arms around 5.6 billion years ago. For the sake of the Timeline Theory, we’ll call this starting point "the beginning of time". This makes up one end of "the timeline" I’ll be referring to: the chronological measurement of events from past to future.

2. Now, let’s assume that time, as we know it today, will continue to be measured beyond our lifetimes, and through the inevitable cycle of an ice age, meltdown, a dawn of dinosaurs, a continental drift, and collision course, "measured" time will cease to exist as those who measure it will be long gone. We’ll call the other end of the timeline "the end of time".

3. I’ll be referring to my own personal timeline (my birth into my inevitable demise) as a "lifespan" so as not to confuse it with the main timeline (beginning of time to end of time).

4. Finally, (this is where it gets a bit tricky, but hang with me here) there is a level of predestination that is tied directly to this timeline. This is a key differentiator from the masses of multiverse theories based on something like The Butterfly Effect. For example: I was always going to be born in the measured year 1994. Final Fantasy 9 was always going to be released on July 7th, 2000. I was always going to literally shit the bed in Indonesia in 2023. So on and so forth.

Now that we have our timeline, let’s zoom in a bit to a look at the real girth of the theory. For the sake of this main example, the section of time we’ll be looking at will be from 1980 until 2080.

Here is that same time period stretched out and divided by decades for better visibility.

Not to rain on my own parade, but I will die at some point in time. In this example, let’s say that I live to a ripe 80 years old. In the diagram below, birth (1994 in my case) will be signified by a circle, and death (2074 for the example) with a square. Tying those two shapes together is a line signifying the years I live in-between those two events (my lifespan).

In this next diagram, I’ve added another individual named Artie. His lifespan will be represented with the same shapes and indicators, only blue. Garrett, red. Artie, blue. You can see that his lifespan starts a bit earlier than mine. In this example, Artie was born in 1980 and will die in 2050 (the actual birth and death dates don’t matter for this theory but I wanted to outlive Artie).

Now, let’s pretend Artie and I know each other and are, in fact, the best of friends. So much so that we see each other once a year, every year to talk about carriage driving, horse insurance, life, love, etc. Let’s say we’ve done that since 2022 and will continue to have that yearly meeting until one of us dies an untimely equine related death (spoiler: it’s Artie).

Both Artie and I are experiencing our lives only as we know it today. I can only speak from the perspective of my own consciousness, but I’m pretty sure everyone around me is experiencing the bare basics of the human condition fairly closely to how I am at the same time as I am (I breathe, sleep, get hungry, etc.).

But, what if, as I can only experience my own consciousness, other individuals on the main timeline (beginning of time to the end of time) are experiencing their’s lives at a different point in their own personal lifespan?

Let’s say, in my own personal lifespan, it’s the year 2035 and I’ve been meeting with Artie for 13 years now to talk about horses. This doesn’t necessarily mean Artie has met with me for 13 years in his own lifespan. He could be in the year 2025 in which we’ve only discussed fillies and colts annually for three years. It could even be the year 1995 in his lifespan, meaning we haven’t even met yet, I’m a newborn infant, and he’s just barely gotten his first riding lesson.

I was always going to meet Artie in my lifespan and Artie was always going to meet me in his lifespan, so it’s more a matter of where I am in my lifespan compared to where he is in his.

Now, I’ve explained this to people and animals a few times and I usually get the same couple of questions. I’d like to answer those questions below.

Q: "But Garrett, I know I’m in the year 2023. I’m literally right in front of you, talking to you right now."

A: I know you’re saying you’re in 2023, but I can only experience my own consciousness, and you, yours. Therefore, your consciousness could be at a different point in your lifespan as I can only verify for a fact that I am in the current time and day.

Q: "So, I could be in the year 3120 right now?"

A: Nope. Just because you may not be in 2023 doesn’t mean you can be at any point in the timeline. You’d be dead long before the year 3120. I understand the hyperbole though. It’s statistically much more likely you’re somewhere on the timeline between your birth and 100 years from your birth.

Q: "Is it possible we’re experiencing our lifespans at the exact same time?"

A: Even though it’s highly unlikely we’re experiencing it down to the second, technically, yes, we could be.

FIG 3. COMPREHENSION

As I wait on funding (I’ve asked for their entire yearly budget and fully expect to receive it or I walk) from The TAMAS Institute, I see the international pushback I’ve received as a sign of validation. Prime Ministers and Prime Ministresses have reached out and asked me to halt all research immediately as I’m "so incredibly wrong and dumb" and "tainting the public water supply", but I only see this metaphorical and legal wall as motivation to squint a little harder at the stars at night.

Maybe you’re reading this in 2023. Maybe you’re getting your hover Heelys repaired and found this article in 2030. It could be 2002 and I’ve just learned about Pokemon Sapphire and Ruby through a branded bookmark at the school library and this writing doesn’t exist yet.

The Wright Brothers were wrong in their preliminary designs. Wall-E wasn’t as closed off as his name might have you believe. My point is that while you may read this with a healthy dose of skepticism, know that I’m right and history will remember me as the man with two eyes, two arms, two legs, over 1000 hairs, an "innie", and a theory that is easily disprovable by anyone with an elementary school education.