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This podcast explains my Balloon Time Model
After studying Minkowski’s model of time, I realised that it does not describe the individual existent’s own personal time. Therefore, I created the Balloon Time Model, an idea according to which the past is the balloon’s string, the knot that ties the balloon represents the present, and the future is the interior of the balloon — a space bounded by the material of the balloon itself. When an individual reaches this boundary, their time ends; in other words, they die.
The string representing the past is nothing other than the past itself, which does not change. The knot is the negligibly small present, and the interior of the balloon is the future — a space that can still change, that is, it is not constant.
This became my first static Balloon Time Model, but after a week I had to revise it, because I recognised that it only applies to a single static moment. For this reason, it was necessary to develop Balloon Time Model 2, which is a dynamic system. As the future becomes realised, it immediately becomes the present, and the present in that same instant becomes the future. The past can also influence the future. Thus, in a dynamic system, the individual is born with a huge balloon and a relatively short string; then, as they age, the string begins to grow and, simultaneously, the balloon starts to shrink.
There are two ways to exit life — to exit time: either due to some event the individual reaches the boundary of the balloon, causing it to burst and ejecting them from time, or the balloon fully deflates — that is, the person grows old and dies, stepping out of time.
I have supported these models with philosophical, physical, and mathematical methods. Now I have begun to develop artistic methods as well. In recent weeks I have hardly been able to sleep from the excitement created by the possibilities offered by this new model.
Below I will paste a few links where the detailed descriptions of the two Balloon Time Models can be read.
Balloon Time Model: Philosophical Background and Methodological Possibilities
Abstract
The balloon time model is a visual and process-based representation of an individual’s temporal existence, depicting the past as a gradually lengthening string, the present as the node connecting the string and the balloon, the future as the balloon’s internal volume, and death as the balloon’s surface. The model aligns with phenomenological (Bergson, Husserl), process-ontological (Whitehead), Deleuzian (Aion, durée, becoming), and existential (Heidegger) traditions, as well as contemporary physical perspectives.
1. Introduction - The Balloon as a Model of Individual Time
The balloon time model is topologically simple yet conceptually rich. The model assumes:
past = string,
present = node,
future = internal volume,
death = surface.
The model formulates three fundamental propositions:
Temporal modalities are asymmetric (the past accumulates, the future is potential),
The present is a transitional point of zero extension,
Lifespan is the gradual decrease of potential volume, culminating at the surface (balloon burst).
2. Theoretical Background: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives
2.1 Bergson and the durée: accumulation of lived time
Bergson considers lived time (durée) as a qualitative, continuous accumulation, resisting measurable, linear spacetime. The balloon’s string as a model of the past represents this accumulation: the past is not a fixed dataset but a continuously growing qualitative trace, which lengthens as potential future moments actualize, transform into the present, and immediately become past.
2.2 Husserl’s phenomenology: retention, protention, and the present
Husserl analyses temporal consciousness in terms of retention (immediate past), presentation (present), and protention (immediate future). The growth of the string represents the layering of retentions, while the node marks the boundary between retention and protention.
2.3 Heidegger: temporality, finitude, and the horizon of death
Heidegger interprets human temporality as existence oriented toward death. The balloon’s surface and its bursting correspond to Heidegger’s view: death as a limit gives meaning to temporal existence, while the decreasing volume illustrates the narrowing of possibilities.
2.4 Deleuze: Aion, chronos, becoming, and differential ontology
Deleuze extends Bergson’s durée: chronos is measurable time, while Aion is the virtual, asymmetric plane of time, where the present opens between past and future. The node is a metaphor for the present with zero extension, signaling the transition between past and future. The decrease of future volume models the process of becoming, where potential events actualize.
2.5 Process philosophy and Whitehead: actualization of potential
According to Whitehead, reality consists of events that transform potentiality into actuality. The balloon’s internal volume contains the possibilities of the future, while the surface marks the point of actualized events. As time progresses, the potential volume diminishes.
2.6 Contemporary physics: the present is not universal
Modern physics (relational time theories, quantum gravity) problematizes a global, absolute present. In the balloon model, the node can be interpreted as a local, individual present: the present exists only from the perspective of the individual, not as a global “now.”
Balloon Time Model (Visual Experiment):
This simulation uses a balloon attached to a string to visualise life and the passage of time. The string represents the past and grows as life unfolds. The balloon represents the future and shrinks as potential events occur. Dynamic text annotations appear to highlight the transient nature of the present, emphasising that every moment immediately becomes part of the past. Eventually, the balloon "pops" to signify death, illustrating the inevitable limits of life.
Visual Experiment: Balloon Time Model
This visual experiment represents the passage of life and the conceptual flow of time using a simple, yet expressive metaphor: a balloon attached to a string. The string symbolizes the past, steadily growing as life progresses, while the balloon represents the future, gradually shrinking as potential events unfold and become reality.
In this dynamic simulation:
· Life span is modeled either randomly or, optionally, with statistical mortality data, determining when the balloon “pops,” representing death.
· String length (y-axis) grows linearly with age, visualizing the accumulation of past experiences.
· Balloon size (radius) decreases over time, illustrating how future possibilities diminish as events occur.
· Philosophical overlay: Text annotations appear and fade dynamically, reflecting each moment becoming past and emphasizing the ephemeral nature of the present. Only the most recent moments are shown, representing the fleeting “now” and its transformation into memory.
· Full-screen animation enhances immersion, with the balloon centrally positioned above the growing string. The horizontal displacement remains fixed, focusing attention on the vertical metaphor of time and accumulation of life.
This experiment conveys the transient and irreversible flow of time, demonstrating that the present is never static. Each frame captures a moment in which the past grows, the future recedes, and the present instantaneously disappears, reinforcing the philosophical premise that the present cannot truly exist as a fixed entity.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.patches import Ellipse
# Parameters
MAX_AGE = 100
INITIAL_BALLOON_VOLUME = 100
# Random hazard function (simplified)
def hazard_function(age):
return 0.001 + 0.0005 * age
def simulate_death():
for age in range(0, MAX_AGE + 1):
if np.random.rand() < hazard_function(age):
return age
return MAX_AGE
death_age = simulate_death()
time = np.arange(0, death_age + 1)
balloon_volume = INITIAL_BALLOON_VOLUME - (INITIAL_BALLOON_VOLUME / MAX_AGE) * time
balloon_volume = np.maximum(balloon_volume, 0)
string_length = time
def philosophical_overlay(age):
if age < death_age:
return (f"Age: {age} years\n"
f"Balloon Volume: {balloon_volume[age]:.1f}\n"
"The past grows as we live, the future shrinks, ever unstable.")
else:
return (f"DEATH at age {death_age}\n"
"The moment becomes past; balloon bursts — yet memory, trace, existence remain as string.")
plt.ion()
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(6,6))
for frame in range(len(time)):
current_string = string_length[frame]
current_balloon = balloon_volume[frame]
ax.clear()
# Compute balloon size
balloon_radius = max(current_balloon / 5, 2)
balloon_height = balloon_radius * 2.6
balloon_width = balloon_radius * 2.0
# Compute balloon center so that string touches the bottom of the balloon
bottom_of_balloon = current_string # point where string stops
center_y = bottom_of_balloon + (balloon_height / 2)
# Draw perfect string-to-balloon attachment
ax.plot([0, 0], [0, bottom_of_balloon], 'b', linewidth=1)
# Draw balloon (ellipse)
balloon_oval = Ellipse(
(0, center_y),
width=balloon_width,
height=balloon_height,
fill=False,
edgecolor='red',
linewidth=1,
alpha=0.9
)
ax.add_patch(balloon_oval)
# Text
ax.text(-15, 120, philosophical_overlay(frame), fontsize=10, verticalalignment='top')
# Axes
ax.set_xlim(-50, 50)
ax.set_ylim(-10, 120)
ax.set_aspect('equal')
ax.set_xlabel('X axis (balloon horizontal displacement)')
ax.set_xticks([])
ax.set_ylabel('Height / Past (String)')
ax.set_title('Balloon Time Model — Random Hazard')
plt.pause(0.2)
plt.ioff()
plt.show()
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