With the disclosure of Non-human Intelligence NHI, the resulting ontological shock may not only stem from the revelation that we are not alone but also from a far deeper, more unsettling realization: our fundamental understanding of time itself could be flawed. This is where the philosophical concept of eternalism becomes critical. Eternalism posits that time is not a flowing, linear progression, but a static, four-dimensional "block," where the past, present, and future all coexist simultaneously, just like different locations in space. According to this view, time does not move -> we do.
Relativistic time dilation, a principle established by Einstein’s theory of relativity, already implies that time behaves differently depending on relative motion. Objects moving at speeds close to the speed of light experience time more slowly, proving that time is not an absolute construct. This concept subtly supports the idea of eternalism: if time can stretch and contract based on speed, then it’s not fixed in the way we experience it. For advanced beings capable of perceiving or manipulating time as easily as we move through space, this would be a known, exploitable feature of reality.
That time is a dimension that can be traversed, just like moving from place to place...completely shifts how we view Non-human Intelligence. Beings that understand and move through time this way could be what many refer to as "inter-dimensional entities." However, this term is likely a euphemism. The term inter-dimensional is often used to imply some mystical or otherworldly quality, but if we accept the block universe model, these entities may not be interacting with different dimensions as we traditionally imagine them. Rather, they may be moving through time the same way we move through space. To them, navigating time <—past, present, or future—> could be as ordinary as traveling to a different location on a map.
Psychological and philosophical implications of this are profound. For humanity, which largely subscribes to a presentist view of time, the realization that the future is not something unfolding before us but a "place" that already exists would challenge our sense of agency, free will, and even identity. If NHI can traverse time as easily as we traverse space, then our traditional understanding of cause and effect, progress, and decision-making collapses. What we perceive as the "future" may already be set, and beings capable of interacting with it could see it as a static reality, not a series of events yet to occur.
The term inter-dimensional entities may, therefore, obscure the truth that these intelligences are not traveling between mystical planes of existence but are simply using a more advanced understanding of the space-time continuum. This realization would not only disrupt our understanding of time but also reshape how we think about our place in the universe.