# Present, Past, and Future — A Working Note on Micro-Phase Difference ## 1. Starting Point The present, the past, and the future are normally considered to be separated along a temporal axis. But what would happen if people occupying the same place existed in slightly different temporal phases? A is in the present, B is in the slightly past, and C is in the slightly future. Yet all three occupy the same place and converse with one another. Through this thought experiment, the question shifts from “Do the present, past, and future exist?” to “How can a relation be established between beings occupying different temporal phases?” ## 2. Different from Communication Delay In communication delay, the speakers occupy the same temporal axis. What is displaced is the transmission of information, not the present in which they exist. In the present hypothesis, however, the speakers occupy the same place while existing in different temporal phases. For B, A's utterance is not simply an utter...