Why Einstein Did Not Take the TFT Path: A Historical-Philosophical Analysis of the Ontological Fork of 1911

This work reconstructs the critical conceptual turning point in Einstein’s gravitational research around 1911. At that time, Einstein already obtained gravitational time dilation and the variable speed of light in gravitational fields, standing at the threshold of a metric-based scalar theory of gravity. Nevertheless, he ultimately chose the path of substantival curved spacetime and Riemannian geometry, establishing general relativity. This paper demonstrates that this historical choice originates from three unexamined ontological presuppositions, rather than computational limitations. Time Field Theory (TFT) fully inherits all verified empirical predictions of general relativity, while completing the crucial conceptual step Einstein overlooked: reducing both space and time to derivative constructs rooted in primitive local periodic benchmarks, instead of treating four-dimensional spacetime as a fundamental entity. Within TFT’s framework, all gravitational phenomena emerge naturally from the global self-consistency constraint of periodic oscillation — the flux conservation equation. Riemannian geometry, light deflection, Mercury perihelion precession and other classic results are endogenously derived without postulating curved spacetime. The paradigm eliminates the circular definition of SI spacetime units, the singularity dilemma and the fundamental barriers obstructing quantum gravity. This article serves as the core philosophical gateway to the TFT series. Readers can systematically understand the internal logical continuity between TFT and Einstein’s pioneering work, clarify how TFT retains all experimentally verified conclusions of relativity while advancing to a deeper layer of periodic ontological foundation. TFT is not arbitrary speculation; it is a consistent extension of Einstein’s physical reasoning along an untraveled logical branch.