- Published: September 16, 2022
- Updated: September 16, 2022
- University / College: Case Western Reserve University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 49
Calculating the length of an existence is easier than expected. It’s not about numbers, but emotions. How we feel about time dictates our actions much more than the actual numbers in rotation. They things we associate with passing time helps a person evaluate their choices and see their progressions.
Absolute Time is the measurement of a natural happening. It is the average duration of sunshine in a day, length of a season in a given location. Hours and time zones, however, are apart from these occurrences because they are man-made. They are a relatable dimension, a system, called Chronological Time so we may live more efficiently. Chronological Time in itself is an arrangement, a rhythm in the form of clocks, calendars, and events. This mechanical form presents time in a way to keeps us on track. But how we feel about it is an autonomous understanding.
How much performance or interaction takes place is a tool when it comes to processing time. C. S. Lewis advised “ the duration of consciousness is not the same as the consciousness of duration”. These two concepts are different because how what is felt about a given activity will affect the happening is interpreted, measured, and endured. It is matter of being overly aware of what is going on, or not at all. Breathing, blinking, and thinking go uncelebrated in our “ duration of conscious”, we filter it out. That is, until a stimulant like suffocation, floodlights, or a headache comes along and now we aware more air is needed, how pinched the eyes are, how tensed the forehead is—and we want it to stop. Being aware of what is going on is how “ consciousness of duration” affects the body.
It is because of this actuality that I agree with Gertrude Stein words, “ We are always the same age inside.” This is no different from the phrase child at heart as parents act like their kids and the elderly still relish their childhood joys. It’s a phenomenon that the adult-bodied person will suddenly recognize that her outsides don’t match her mentality or heart (that is presumably youthful). It rejects the chronology of mechanical time. As the body ages on a calculated plane stamped with birthdays and new years’ eves, the mind is revolving within an unlabeled circle. To judge Saint Augustine’s “ It is in you, O my mind, that I measure time” out of context but in relation to Chronological Time, it cannot be coupled with Philosophy of Time. They may be incompatible, unnatural they are together. Unnatural because perceive time is not innate but it is a skill to do so. For the sake of tangible progress, “ O my mind” is a woe, a calling to recognise, be accountable, and be familiar with how the day passes. “ It is in you, o my mind,” Augustus can refer to his self, the nonphysical part of him to be more considerate of his outer experiences. Or, “ It is in you,” can appropriately be in the relation to some other body who time is invested in. For the eith to conjoin, mind and body or two people, the connection is an encouraged effort: “ It is in you,” the thing I need and utilize, “ that I measure time” to know what is important. When a person’s mind appropriately matures, the result is meant to benefit everyone involved.
Ideally, the benefit of measuring time is the ability to dictate priorities. Philosophy of Time grants why deadlines make us anxious and why vacations are laidback. If an incoming deadline is an hour away, the minutes are ticking away and the current procedures aretoo slow. That hour hasn’t gained or lost any minutes, nor is the second hand spinning around the clock, but there is an overt sensitivity to how much time is passing. And with it is an attachment of guilt, mistakes, consequences and penalties emphasizing how much hasn’t been done. The way time is perceived when we feel there isn’t enough of it is a stressful state of mind. The excitement and agitation of that one-hour deadline is unlike the leisurely first hour of vacation. It feels open and full of possibility because there are no clocks when on retreat. Vacations, whether on a boat or in a hotel, are advertised for their timelessness. Chronological Time is practically usurped by the Absolute as mornings, sunsets, and beaches are the softest nudge in establishing how much time has passed—which is based on hues changing color instead of digital numbers flashing. In this occurrence, we would not feel obligated to do anything outside of our essential needs. However it should be said, that in this situation, vacations are hyped for ending too soon once they’ve ended. This is more because the time enjoyed was a scheduled moment and an escape from the shared system of deadlines and multi-tasking. To go back to the bustle is a return to a lifestyle where everyone is working to do things under the same clock.
Overall, how we feel about time is not a punishment because if without a philosophy towards time there would lack of motivation. It’s our perception of time that channels what progress we’ve made. Being able to make 10-year plans or birthday parties, is how we acknowledge what changes we’ve made, what challenges we encountered. If that did not exist there wouldn’t be a standstill, but there would certainly be a lot less stress on advancing the self. Personally, my thoughts toward Philosophy of Time were not challenged. As in, I didn’t feel more conscious of how my mind perceives time. Instead, I was reminded that humankind recorded Time, not created it. Before there mechanical system, the rocks, oceans, and trees represented Time. And weather, migration, and fossils demonstrated Time. Since Absolute Time frames indistinct endlessness, it was necessary for people to dictate Time on a smaller scale. With it came a sense organization and I appreciate the stress and prioritizing that comes with it. As a society, I think Chronological Time has given us the power to chose what we feel is worthy of us, both the moment to ourselves, and rest we share with others.