Processes Instantiate Time

When I say "processes instantiate time," I mean that time does not exist independently, waiting to be measured—it only becomes actual through the unfolding of processes.

Instantiation vs. Measurement

• Measurement assumes that time is already there, and processes just give us a way to quantify it (e.g., "this process takes 5 seconds").
• Instantiation means that without processes, there is no time—because time is the dimension along which processes unfold.

Why 'Instantiate'?

In your SFL-informed ontology, instantiation is the relation between a structured system (meaning potential) and its actual expression (meaning instance). Applying this idea to time:

• The potential for time exists in the fact that things can unfold.
• But actual time only exists when something does unfold.
• A process, by unfolding, makes time real—it brings the potential for time into an actual instance.

An Analogy

Think of music:

• The concept of rhythm is always possible, but a beat must be played for rhythm to actually exist.
• The concept of time is always possible, but a process must occur for time to actually exist.
• Just as drumming instantiates rhythm, unfolding processes instantiate time.

So, to say "processes instantiate time" is to say that time only exists because processes unfold—it is not something independent of them: time is a feature of processes, not something independent of them.

Why Do Actual Processes Instantiate Time?

Since time is the dimension along which processes unfold, a process cannot exist without also bringing time into existence. The moment a process unfolds, time is instantiated as that unfolding.

If you take away all processes, you don’t have an empty container called "time" left behind—you just have nothing. That’s why time isn’t something separate that processes “move through.” Instead, time is just the relation between stages of a process.

Key Takeaway

• Time is not an external framework that exists first and then hosts processes.
• Time is an intrinsic property of processual unfolding—it comes into being as the process happens.
• That’s why actual processes instantiate time rather than just “happening within” time.