ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Specious present

The specious present is like a moment, but it's not just any moment. It's the moment when we are aware of what's happening around us right now. It's the time between the past and the future.

It's called "specious" because it's not a real moment that we can hold onto. We can't freeze time or stop it, so the present is always slipping away from us.

The reason it's important is that it helps us make sense of the world. We need to have a sense of time to understand cause and effect, to make plans and decisions, and to experience the world around us.

Even though the specious present isn't a real moment, it's still something we can perceive. It's like a mental snapshot that gives us a sense of what's happening right now. And as we move through time, that snapshot changes and becomes new snapshots.

So, the specious present is like a sliding window that helps us understand the world around us, even though we can never truly hold onto it.