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Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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Temporal Experience and Phenomenological Flow

Authors: de Beer, Riaan;

Temporal Experience and Phenomenological Flow

Abstract

This paper develops a structural account of temporal experience within a framework that treats irreversible time as primitive and commitment as persistent state-space reduction. Subjective temporal flow is not taken as an independent ontological feature, but as the internal manifestation of successive irreversible commitments. Each commitment excludes admissible future trajectories in a manner that cannot be reversed; ordered accumulation of such exclusions generates directionality, continuity, and irreversibility in experience. The distinction between externally measured duration and felt duration is explained as a divergence between metric time and commitment density. Variations in perceived temporal speed correspond to differences in the rate and magnitude of state-space contraction, while states described as timeless correspond to suspension of new binding events despite ongoing irreversible time. The account remains substrate-neutral and derives phenomenological structure directly from constraint topology under temporal irreversibility.

Keywords

phenomenological flow, temporal structure, commitment theory, constraint dynamics, constraint topology, irreversible time, order theory, structural identity, temporal asymmetry

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
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