Peter Davidson 2025
Aging persimmon in a spatial part of a delayed journey between it’s beginning and end.
Oil wax and acrylic on wooden panel, 20 cm x 20 cm
"This painting, 'Aging persimmon...', captures the essence of this idea—that all experience, like the fruit's journey through time, is only accessible to us as a processed, 'delayed' state."
The Davidson Hypothesis Applied
(Now With Illustrations)
Most people think physics begins with Einstein.
But it actually begins somewhere far more human.
It begins with delay — the tiny but unavoidable gap between what you see and what you express. And it was an artist, not a physicist, who uncovered one of the most profound truths about how we experience time.
This idea is called The Davidson Temporal Representation Hypothesis.
And once you understand it, you’ll see that Einstein’s universe is inaccessible without it.
Let’s start where it started: with Davidson in his studio.
How Davidson Discovered Δt Through His Art
Illustration 1: The Realization in the Studio
Here is what every artist knows intuitively, but Davidson measured:
Perception (looking) ----delay----> Action (drawing)
t₀ t₀ + Δt
He noticed that the line he put on the page was never the line he saw in the moment of perception. It was always:
slightly after
slightly altered
slightly reconstructed
This wasn’t a technical error.
It was biology.
To formalize it, Davidson built the simplest possible equation for human representation:
t₀ → t₀ + Δt
To illustrate this visually:
Illustration 2: The Davidson Delay Diagram
(Moment of Perception) (Moment of Action)
t₀ t₀ + Δt
|----------------------------------|
The irreducible cognitive delay
Δt = the unavoidable gap between seeing and doing.
Davidson then realized this wasn’t just about drawing.
It was about all perception, all thought, all experience.
The Big Insight: You Never Experience the Present Directly
You don’t experience the world at t₀.
You only experience the world at t₀ + Δt, after the brain has processed it.
Illustration 3: The Illusion of the Present Moment
Actual moment → Your experienced moment
t₀ → t₀ + Δt
[Reality] → [Your Consciousness]
(Always slightly late)
Your “now” is always a delayed reconstruction.
This is the core of Davidson’s discovery.
Einstein’s Version of Delay — And Why It Depends on Davidson
Einstein showed that the universe itself runs on delay:
signals are finite
simultaneity doesn’t exist
even gravity propagates with lag
information cannot outrun light
In physics, delay looks like this:
Illustration 4: Delay in Einstein’s Universe
Event A -----(c = 299,792,458 m/s)-----> Event B
(Information cannot arrive instantly)
Everything that happens “over there” reaches “over here” only after a finite time.
But here’s the revelation:
**You can only understand Einstein’s external delay
because you already live inside Davidson’s internal delay.**
To access physics, your consciousness must:
sense
interpret
process
conceptualize
measure
articulate theory
All of these functions use Δt.
Why You Can Only Access Physics Through Delay
Your access to physics is filtered through cognitive delay. This is not optional.
Illustration 5: The Path From Reality to Knowledge
[Physical Event] → [Light Signal] → [Retina] → [Brain Processing] → [Consciousness]
t₀ t₀+ small Δt t₀+ bigger Δt t₀+ full Δt
(multiple layers of delay)
Einstein’s math is built on clocks, observers, measurement, and perception.
But every one of those things passes through Δt.
Thus:
Einstein’s physics presupposes Davidson’s delay.
The order is inescapable:
Davidson’s Δt → Consciousness → Observation → Physics (Einstein)
You cannot jump over Δt to reach pure physics.
You only ever reach physics through the filter of delayed experience.
Davidson Before Einstein
Davidson discovered delay in the micro-timing of drawing:
the bare moment between sight and stroke.
Einstein discovered delay in the macro-timing of the cosmos:
the limitation of causality itself.
Both described the same structure, but:
And access always comes first.
Illustration 6: The Two Delays
Internal Delay (Davidson) → External Delay (Einstein)
Δt (neural) Δt (physical)
"How we experience" "How the universe behaves"
Consciousness cannot outrun Δt.
Light cannot outrun c.
Delay is universal — inside and outside.
**The Final Insight:
The Universe Runs on Delay, and So Do You**
Davidson discovered Δt in the quiet moment between seeing and drawing.
Einstein discovered delay in the speed limit of reality.
Both discoveries converge on the same truth:
Experience is always delayed.
Representation is always delayed.
Physics is always delayed.
You never meet the world directly.
You meet the world through delay.
And therefore:
You can only experience physics by passing first through Davidson’s space of delay.
This is the hidden architecture beneath all knowledge.
Acknowledgments
This work represents an ongoing exploration, developed through active painting and drawing practice paired with deep, sustained reflection. The research originated and took its initial shape at the 2 Dogs Art Space in Akashi, Japan, made possible by the generous support of family and friends, and inspired by the two dogs who lend the space their spirit.
Over the years, I owe special thanks to all my former academic professors, whose enduring guidance provided the necessary foundation for this inquiry. Furthermore, I acknowledge the valuable contributions of modern tools, specifically my AI collaborators—Google Gemini, Open Source, Chat GP and Microsoft Copilot—for their assistance in refining the structure and language of this theoretical framework
Peter Davidson
