"Since the Hafele–Keating experiment has been reproduced by increasingly accurate methods, there has been a consensus among physicists since at least the 1970s that the relativistic predictions of gravitational and kinematic effects on time have been conclusively verified."

However, this does not verify that time exists as a fundamental entity of the universe. This is an empirically proven effect of time dilation that has been verified countless times. It merely shows that the process flow differs under different gravitational and kinematic conditions. This demonstrates that the dilation effect does exist and that Einstein was correct about the perception of time flow within a given frame of reference. However, this does not make time a fundamental gear in the clockwork of the universe.

Let's delve into a thought experiment. We'll replace our spacetime with something very similar that will yield the same effects:

1. Imagine there is a 1D dimension that is perpendicular to each of the coordinates of our space (excluding time as a dimension for this thought experiment).

2. The singularity (a 0D object) transformed into a 1D vector of universe expansion and the 3D space at the big bang (we don't know how). As this 1D space is perpendicular to all three of our dimensions, the expansion of the universe happens in all directions in the 3D space. Our 3D space expands in all directions at each single point in the universe.

3.The rate of universe expansion in 1D space is a constant 1 (due to the inverse-square law I = S / (2πr^(D-1)), where D is the dimensions of the space). Bear with me here, I'm not denying the accelerated rate of universe expansion as we perceive it. This only implies that the universe will never stop expanding and the big bang never ceased in the 1D space; it continues and will last forever (assuming there are no other factors, including gravitational effects, that would halt this expansion).

4.Energy is leaking in all directions from the 1D space to our 3D space.

5. Simultaneously, the immense amount of energy in this 1D space has a significant gravitational effect on the energy (and later the matter) in our 3D space, which already contains an immense quantity and also has gravitational effects on itself and the 1D space. The energy density is so high and the space is so distorted that there are colossal pressure waves already present within the 3D space in all directions. Matter forms. Matter collapses into (micro-)singularities (???) - but perhaps not yet, this is too far stretched here, my fantasy and imagination are failing here. The one fact remains: the time dilation effect is already present and it affects everything. As there is no center in this expansion (remember, 1D space is everywhere and perpendicular to each of the 3D axes of our space), this energy-filled space experiences the same time dilation effect in all directions. Only fluctuations and the matter which is forming under pressure waves clustering together under the gravitational effects and starting to form the gravitational gradients. These gradients assure the difference in a "time flow", making it further possible for the matter to cluster. And there is a glimpse of evidence that at the beginning of times, the time dilation effects were five times higher than now¹.

6. As we move further in time from the Big Bang, the space becomes more stretched, and the time dilation effect in all directions of the universe decreases. However, the clustered matter has its own effect on the time dilation due to its gravity, and of course, the gravity gradients dictate the rate of the dilation effect in addition to the global time dilation effect that 1D space puts in place. This provides a potential explanation for the observed differences in the speed of matter in galaxies, which are attributed to dark matter right now, but this has to be studied and tested at so many angles that will not even start counting.

7. Actually, none of the above, exactly as the Schrödinger equation we spoke earlier, require the time to be something internal, something that is required for the universe to tick.

[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/time-flowed-five-...