To whom-ever it may concern, I am currently a debate team member at my high school. One of the ideas my team came up with is to travel back in time and blow up the earth. Now here is the question. Oh to be wandering the universe as a photon instant and in pepetuity. Time cannot possibly exist by itself, as a thing in itself.
Time is a symptom of awareness, but then it has to exist if there is any reality to the universe.
My thoughts are taking shape in this private area. Thank you for providing an appropriate forum for such offerings. You mention Julian Barbour on your site. Forgive me for being ignorant,I have had this question on my mind for some time. I think that the progression of time is due to the cosmological scale expansion.