Arrival: Time Is An Illusion 

No one will:)

@cece jb I don't mean it as it it wasn't understandable,I meant it as it was really different than anything else I've listened to t

@cece jb 👍._.👍

Who is this child

I'd like to remember the me that walked to work this morning listening to this will continue to exist in that moment, long after present me forgets. If he does, I will be happy.

someone looked extra cute that day someone looks extra cute today someone will look extra cute one day

Thanks, you too :)

Thanks you 😌😉

Thanks

😏

Same

i wanna like but 888 is more comforting lol

This is just cliche existential crisis to me at this point... i love it still.

All of mine are comforting. Idk.

this is the most comforting being yelled at for 25 minutes I've ever had

lmao I'm surprised there aren't more people in the comments talking about this joke. Especially considering that CJ's wearing trans flag makeup the whole time

lmao good for you

the egg or the mirror?

​@@StrawmnMcPerson both both is good

real dad shit honestly

One of my favorite things about getting older is exactly this. Rewatching things as if its the first time I'm watching it is far, far more common than it was when I was young, where I would remember a film or a book within an inch of its life from so many rewatches and rereads.

Its funny, cause it's not even that hard to understand. But maybe I'm just being pretensious 😂

So…no acid in his past, present, future?

I relate to your dad; watched the movie about 3 separate times, had multiple people explain the concept and plot to me, seen countless reviews, and it wasn’t until I watched this disorganized, completely nonsensical video that I finally understood what the heck was happened :,)

this exactly! I know French and English and thinking in French gives me this weird confidence boost where English makes everything feel more heavy(?)

Dude. Those are the 3 languages I speak. Who are you ? Are you a clone ? AM I A CLONE ?? ARE YOU ME FROM THE FUTURE FUCK

When I speak french I feel frustrated and confused

you guys should watch or read ludwig wittgenstein even if only the youtube clips on youtube from the movie. is very good and about how language effect how you see the world.

Charles V -- Hapsburg -- once said, "He who speaks another language possesses another soul.".

ok

No. Deal with your dread and pain and fear.

I love that there, Christian it makes it so much funnier

this comment is a month old but I want to say that I'm glad I'm not the only one who was reminded of that adventure time song

@@FrecklesHasAQuestionMark Everything stays right where you left it Everything stays But it still changes Ever so slightly, daily and nightly In little ways, when everything stays Another month passes

@@FrecklesHasAQuestionMark yeah. the lyrics "will happen, happening, happened." is literally just what they are saying

My immediate thought

it seems unforgiving when a good thing ends but you and i will always be back then

💞

ive had eerily similar thought processes you've encountered in your comment before I even encountered your comment. comparing my life to an alternate reality where my brother was still alive. realizing he would have had to die inevitably anyways. very eerie....

I love to go down the rabbit hole of “what if X was still alive and how my life would be different” and then i realize that this is exactly where i was meant to be - when i got here didnt matter. This is where im meant to be and who im meant to be here with.

Mine did too. It makes me think of those first few years when i felt guilty for not constructing some sort of ploy to rob her of her cigarettes. I think the conclusion I came to growing up was that we really can’t know what those parallel universes would be like, and by extension we’re in no place to make a judgement about them. Maybe something worse could have happened, who knows? That’s when the theorizing stopped and i started to feel lucky. For my dad and for the 9 years i had with her.

It points out that while being able to imagine alternatives and develop goals from thinking about what we want and preventing bad things from happening in the future, our minds are not constructed exactly for those things. It's a property that emerges from a general development of mind (of brain) and so we must expect that some less than desirable traits will also emerge, like this obsession over how things might be if this or that was different. Everyone thinks like that sometimes. But, I have also come to the point where I feel like, hey, as long as I'm imagining things that aren't real, I might as well imagine that everything ever went right in my life or that I have godlike powers. All of it is just as not real; so, what's the point? The only constructive thoughts of that sort are to think about what you want out of life, select the things that seem attainable and work on attaining them. Admittedly, I don't do that either. Yep, not perfect. Just a set of emergent properties from an evolving biological construction.

I remember seeing a post that went like “I’m an adult now, and I want to tell past me at 15 and everyone here who’s young and struggling: life seems hard right now, things may seem hopeless or horrible, you may be suffering daily, but I can tell you with certainty it gets better, I was a severely depressed teen who contemplated su1cide and was so sad all the time, i never thought or planned to get to the age I am, but here I am, it gets better”

@nessar9241 Amen! Well done. I"m proud of you, and I love you. (this is radical love no i don't know you).

I can't tell if I'm crying for 12-year-old me or 20-year-old me or 30-year-old me but I'm crying

@@renoia3067You’re probably crying for all 3. I know that younger me would be proud I found myself surrounded by so many amazing people because that is all I’ve ever really wanted in my life and I’m proud of them for making the decisions I made to find myself here. They were sad but hopeful and that hopefulness got me where I am.

Time is an illusion that helps things make sense, so we are always living in the present tense, it can be unforgiving when a good thing ends, but you and I will always be back then. Singing will happen, happening, happened. Cos you and I will always be back then.

I pick being hot

@@cjthex Priorities

This shouldn’t be relatable. But more time goes by more relatable this comment is. I get dejavu ridiculously often. And dreams have started feeling less like brain nonsense and more like a mix of imagination and future memories. I don’t have the memories that aren’t mine part, (though occasionally I’ll have dreams that definitely don’t feel like mine,) but it’s incredible that I’m not totally alone and or crazy.

Literally this has always been my experience, only I haven’t had the understanding or awareness to correctly articulate what it was. There is absolutely choice, just a heightened awareness and perception of what is.

This is exactly what I was trying to articulate in my head

this is so cool i want to add my own experience (im bad at articulating so bear with me): i get a lot of moments of deja vu fairly often, but they all come from dreams? i cant tell you how many times im talking with someone and stop for a moment because i swear that id experienced it in a dream. never before, never something similar, ive experienced those few seconds sometime before in a dream. absolutely wild how weird the world is. i hope you all have/had/will have a good day!

This probably doesn't mean anything, but I often find myself laughing at a joke, only to realise that the joke was said after I laughed.

I came here because of you ma'am, I love him now. And I'm in love with you too.

The idea of "god", of a creator, is likely the effect our predisposition to view reality as cause and effect, extrapolated to the grand scale. Prime mover stuff. Probably coupled with the parent thing, which makes sense why a lot of gods act like a big angry father. It's us trying to comprehend this concept of existence using our limited experiences.

This made me think of the part in the Bible where when Moses asks God who are you he literally jus say “I am that I am” we jus give this infinity Omnipresent creator different names jus to be able to comprehend it. Even after the quote it said “I am that I am” Moses is confused and “God” essentially had to use more concrete words to to make it Comprehendible by saying “I am the God of your ancestors“ . Even in this little tangent of mine I had to use words such as God or creator jus so I can know we have a common understanding of what I’m talking about. Even me talking about this is kind of redundant bc I ultimately believe in a God (I’m Christian to be specific) but someone who doesn’t simply can dismiss the thought all together if they choose not to look into it. So yea jus anted to share bc I it was an interesting thought that jus passed though my head and language is a mindfuck.

@@bekka-_-9041 Yeah, it's conflating the idea of a creator with "truth". A clever twist, but a messy one (mostly because of the implications on "god's" agency).

historians believe the sumerians were aliens. perhaps they, too, saw time differently.

I find this concept deeply comforting too. And I think it’s because my perspectives have changed over the years. When I was younger I used to see the concept as “everything I do and everything in this lifetime is out of my hands and I am not in control of my life.” But now I see it more so as i’m not in control of my death, I have no say over how, when, or why I will die. That’s comforting to me because I would rather not have control over my death than not have control over my life or the way I choose to live it.

Beautifully said!

Same! I wonder if trauma and depression and similar cognitive modes have an effect on our subjective experience of time as being something other than direct?

That’s quite interesting as my brain sometimes in adhd or anxiety mode I have no recollection of past or concept of future yet it’s effects linger and with anxiety it’s everything future and all it’s possibilities are happening “at once”, as in jumping from the next to the next thing and circling throughout until I ground and Arrive ;):( in the “present” where little thoughts and just intuition of time ever flowing yet the same in essence all throughout.

@@dartxni it prolly do, i know for me, dealing with some of the stuff i have, my timeline of events now feel very skewed, both in how long things feel to me and how directly i feel them.

One of my favorite quotes from my favorite book. More than a few essays have probably been written about its perspectives on time and illusion.

I absolutely love this. Thank you for sharing.

And now I have a new book to find and read. Thank you and thank search algorithms! Seriously, thank you.

I've watched this video so many times and somehow never seen this comment. Thank you so much; I will be adding this to my reading list :')

I love this so much

I have OCD as well, and the intrusive thoughts about death and existentialism are the reason i usually don't watch movies like arrival. nonetheless, i really like it, and it's a lot more strangely comforting than I'd expected?

I belive remembering the future still gives room for free will. Here is how: If one could remember the future, such a future would have to be an "optimal future" for both the individual and the collective, ensuring that when the moment of decision arrives, there would be a universal preference not to deviate from this remembered path. This does not preclude suffering or hardship; it simply defines the remembered future as the path that each individual, when faced with a choice, would ultimately choose to continue upon. In essence, this optimal future is selected through the absence of desire for change at critical junctures, solidifying it as the definitive timeline. Moreover, as individuals gain the ability to remember the future, presumably after learning the language of the heptapods as depicted in "Arrival," they begin to influence the collective optimal future. Those who remember first must, therefore, consider the eventual remembered futures of those who have yet to remember. This consideration ensures that the remembered future remains consistent and desirable even as new rememberers join the collective consciousness. This interconnectedness mandates a pre-emptive alignment, a sort of temporal harmony that seamlessly incorporates the futures of latecomers into the already established tapestry. The future, in this regard, shapes the past in anticipation of future insights. It's a dance of causality that respects individual autonomy while upholding a shared destiny. Thus, as more individuals begin to remember the future, they naturally conform to the futures already remembered, reinforcing a collective trajectory that none wish to alter. The remembered future is not just an individual’s unalterable timeline; it is a collective fabric woven by the merging fates of all participants. Once this fabric is understood and accepted, it becomes the foundation of a reality where every piece, every event, and every choice fits together to create a predetermined but collectively embraced tableau, making the remembered future not just a possibility but an unwavering certainty in the experience of those who perceive it. In such a universe, time is less a linear progression and more a mosaic of interlocking choices and consequences. Each person contributes to this grand design, filling in the gaps as they move forward, shaped by the choices they are destined to make, yet also shaping those choices by their very act of remembering them. It's a harmonious blend of free will and destiny, a predetermined symphony composed by the collective will of all who partake in its unfolding.

is that a jojo reference?????

big same lol

@@aryarego8205 is this blorbo from my shows?

@phosphenevision does it work tho??

@@fetacheeeeese idk if it does more than not maybe it just helps me manage my anxiety lol or like connect to my subconscious to find where it is? since my conscious mind can't remember

DAMMIT CJ THIS VIDEO IS SO GOOD

@@CameronBaba

I love that line so much

Not gonna lie man that kinda made me tear up

I love this. thank u for writing it and sharing

@@helila me too.. 'when I was young enough to fall in love'

this was very beautifully put

so, all set in motion by yall's UNTIMELY ARRIVAL :O !?

I connected to every word in your comment. I hope for you to get your agency the same way I hope to have it myself. And also, thank you for the perspective, it'll be interesting to look at my relationships with time and existing in it!

You've got a really great way of looking at & engaging with the past & present (I guess that means the future too). All the best to you 🫶

Them? Are they enby?

@@blake-cf4lh ah ok.

me too. it was basically the thing that lead me to realize how scientifically chaotic the universe really is it changed my world view i love it and hate it so much thank you goodbye o7

ted chiang's work is science fiction at it's best. each short story is thought provoking. story of your life... if i recall correctly, is more affecting than the movie. the movie has more 'emotion' but the short story poses more interesting/impactful questions. arrival removes one of the most affecting dimensions that story of your life asks... the daughter's death is preventable. the protagonist is living her life accepting the totality of her daughter's existence, including how her life will end. And she will accept that as well. An incurable disease removes that moral dimension etc.

I'm also here because of Khadija and I'm so happy I watched this

Me too, I feel like I'm in on a secret now😌

Khadija gave him a shout-out? I just recently found both of their channels, but I had no clue about that. Nice! 💜

@@caldameron8713 i actually got them on my recommended before I got khadija, but I love them both

I normally watch most vids at 2x, but for these I have to bump it down to 1.5x XD

i deal with anxiety issues and to cope i do this too. it helps a lot. i just never thought of it consciously. it's just a coping mechanism i picked up along the way i guess. it's nice to see it written out tho, so thanks!

I feel this. Arrival is hard for me to watch because I feel that I flipped to the end of the book ahead of time and it is hard to engage fully in the present, and I feel like Louise where you're always a little out of step and have to decide what to tell people around you- or if it's even possible to express that feeling. The past is gone forever, but it's also still right here with me. The future is always ahead of me but it's also crushing me. And I'm here, but I'm not here. I try to be and it hurts to Be Here Now, but it hurts so be detached too. Idk maybe arrival isn't great to watch in a mental health spiral, but it also is kind of comforting so idk

I’ve felt this way too. Back during my brief stint in college, I started to fall into a bad mental spiral and it lasted until the day I dropped out. I would suddenly be thrown back into my worst days and I would have to brave the horrible storm of darkness all over again. Maybe everybody experiences that though; the ghost of the past wrecking havoc in your head. The small personal tragedies of ‘what if’s’ and ‘if only’s’. We just got to get used to carrying that weight.

literally my exact path

I went from the tangled, to Marnie was there is gay, to the existential crisis 🥰

Same!

very true

@UCRvbNWlZvwutJZxtN2EPOwQ Exactly! To be consumed by those memories/thoughts is so draining. Glad I wasn't the only one with these thoughts :)

Most college professors will never touch/inform as many people as cj does, I think it's a perfect situation.

Omg I spent the entire video thinking of the connections with slaughterhouse five. It’s my favorite book in this entire planet.

@@lanabadan439 SAME.

yea slaughterhouse 5 is a great book. it definitely skews more towards nihilism from what i remember when i read it though, so that might be a little wacky to include if we're arguing that our lives have meaning in spite of our lack of agency. i remember thinking of it when watching arrival and it felt like arrival tried to take the idea of nonlinear time more seriously (or at least with more seriousness) whereas slaughterhouse 5 was more about pointlessness and absurdity, especially in regards to war. both have places in this conversation though.

Yesssss I love that book, and it’s so interesting how it has such a similar plot to this story, but they still have wildly different tones and themes.

PATRON DETECTED. ADVANCED APPRECIATION PROTOCOLS ACTIVATING. YOUR INSIGHT AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IS NOW INTRINSICALLY VALUABLE. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROCEDURE.

@@cjthex best bux I've ever spent! Thanks I love it, my purchase of validation! Great vid

bc all stories are happening simultaneously, as a human being, you can step into any of these realities. you step into them in dreams, or fantasies. if you want to believe this, when you die you get reborn into a different story or reality. bc you are a being your consciousness is connected to all the different ways you want to be and live. you have you will experience all of these.

One of my favorite books!!! It definitely made existing make more sense

SAME. lmao

That joke. 😂. Dyed eggs with my family and made a bunch of them trans colors.. I was cracking (all puns intended) myself up, I had to explain eggs to them. Cis folks so clueless.

I AM a girl, I WAS a girl, I WILL BE a girl again. Time is an illusion fuck you transphobes

that comment was a vicious attack on my personhood, 10 d10 psychic damage. never before have i been so blithely called out

look at my username im still a sad little egg oh God 😔

my god same, watching those two movies side-by-side was truly something else

True. But 1000 years from now almost everybody, no matter how famous they are, will have long faded into obscurity. Also, Henry David Thoreau famously stated in Walden that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Of course, they didn't have television or the internet in 1854. Everybody was desperate for entertainment. All they had were books, traveling minstrel shows, and preachers to distract them from the daily grind. It's our own fault if we cannot find something to be passionate about! But, in the end, does it matter?

"fate is propelled by choice. free will is the mechanism by which destiny occurs" ...wow. yeah. you put in words something i've been wrestling to articulate for a while now, having recently gained a new sense of agency over my life & a better delineation (or melding) of 'my free will vs. God's Will'.

I think that sometimes it’s easiest to block off emotions or ideas that might set off a change in the way you live/go abt ur day to day life. By rejecting change they find comfort in going through the same patterns that have been reinstated since they were just kids; likely thinking “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” instead of going through the long emotional process of understanding, acceptance, and lastly making a change. Basically it’s easier for them to deny something instead of going through an existential crisis b4 realization/understanding like the rest of us 💀

Who can blame them, really? What do they have to gain? Understanding? Understanding that nobody knows fuck about anything? :P Better from their perspective to believe in their self-constructed absolutes.

@@tahunuva4254 @Gabi Michelle i second these statements. for any sort of life changing decisions there has to be a catalyst. if nothing around you changes (i.e. a stable suburban life) there wouldn’t be any reason for them to question the state in which they live. i recommend you go search up “The Hero’s Journey” by Joseph Campbell. it’s a map of character development. i would say the people like this are living at the very fist stage. (the Known/Ordinary/Townsfolk’s world.)

@@insecureintellectual4783 The monomyth, yeah. Actually attempted to make a video game based around it, once.. Honestly, if our current reality is running off a similar formula, I'm pretty sure I'm the villain :P

@@tahunuva4254 BAHAHHAA lmao

Immediately heard this song when I saw the title

Yes, one of my favorite shows! 💖