Time and Control...

Do we control time or does time control us?

I'll make an attempt to look at the topic without including the role of religion that comes into play.

That will make it a little harder to analyse...

Are events just “destined” to happen? Are we just playing a role in a play whose script is already written? Why are we thinking about things like this? Why are you reading this blog? Is it part of the script? Or did you choose to type the url in your browser and read these words? Are these choices also part of the script?

(I'm assuming that the “script writer” is some unknown part of nature. This may itself be debatable, but such a debate should not affect what I've written, I think)

To decipher which takes precedence, i.e., the effect or its cause has been a matter of confusion throughout. (Chicken or egg?) Ultimately, it drops down to a matter of perspective. One perspective considers that the human mind has the power of volition, i.e., the power to choose an action, and not depend on what is supposed to be an instinctive response. We choose to analyse before we act on anything. And that analysis decides our action. The other perspective considers that any analysis occurs purely because it has been made to occur. It claims that nothing is in the hands of the human. Not even the direction of thought.

In either perspective, there is thought. In one you can change your own thought, and in the other your thought changes on its own accord. Those who consider that they can change their actions to yield better results seek to control their time. Those who don't may as well let their thoughts flow as they should, and let time control what happens. Any scientific approach would favour an attempt to minimize uncertainty. For that, an assumption must be made that the uncertainty can be decreased.

Controlling time does not mean slowing down seconds or speeding them up. Nor does it mean controlling all the events that occur at an instant. It means acting on events that occur in such a manner that a set of tasks that we can achieve within a stipulated time, are completed smoothly. Unexpected events may occur. These only improve our abilities to react to them. If we had infinite time and resources, all tasks would get completed at some time or the other(a little bit of stretched speculation, maybe!). Completing them within constraints requires planning and “efficient control” of time available.