Are We Aging by Observing Time? What Would Happen if We Stop Observing Time?

Time shapes everything we experience — from the ticking of clocks to the aging of our bodies. But what if time itself isn’t a fundamental part of reality? What if our act of observing time is what makes it real — and in doing so, we create the very experience of aging and mortality?

Observation and the Flow of Time

In quantum physics, Schrödinger’s equation describes how systems evolve smoothly and predictably — until they’re observed. The moment we measure or observe, the wave of possibilities “collapses” into a single outcome.

Our consciousness works in a similar way: by observing change and recording sequences, we generate the sensation of time flowing forward. Without this sequential observation — without comparing “before” and “after” — the concept of time would lose meaning.

In that sense, mortality isn’t just biological—it’s perceptual. We experience ourselves as mortal because we perceive change.

Entropy: The Arrow of Time

Entropy — the natural tendency toward disorder — defines the direction of time. The universe’s increasing entropy creates the difference between past and future. If entropy never changed, time wouldn’t “flow” at all. Everything would simply be.

Thus, entropy and time are two faces of the same phenomenon: no time without change, no change without entropy.

The Timeless Universe

The Wheeler–DeWitt equation, a fundamental expression of quantum gravity, describes the universe without any reference to time. It portrays reality as a timeless quantum state. Time, under this view, emerges only when one part of the universe observes another — when interactions create reference points and entropy increases.

In other words, time — and therefore aging — arise from observation itself.

So What Happens If We Stop Observing Time?

Physically, your body would still age — biological processes don’t depend on awareness. But consciously, you might not experience aging at all. Without perceiving sequence or change, the sense of past and future disappears. In moments of deep meditation or altered awareness, people sometimes glimpse this “timeless” state — where existence simply is, without before or after.

The Paradox of Conscious Mortality

From a timeless cosmic perspective, everything — your birth, life, and death — coexists in one vast quantum state. It’s our act of observing and remembering that slices this unity into a timeline. In doing so, we create stories, meaning — and mortality itself.

By observing time, we bring time — and aging — into being.