This column is about time — not in the sense that “it’s about
time I got around to writing it” but in the sense that it’s subject
is time.
Time is a big subject so let’s narrow it down to how we perceive
it.
People have been making observations about time for an
incredibly long time. The Romans observed tempus fugit, which is
usually translated “time flies.” The first record of the phrase was
seen in a poem written by Virgil in 29 BCE. These days most people
add “when you’re having fun” while a few add “whether you’re having
fun or not.”
It’s funny how subjective time is for something that we can hear
and see literally ticking away on wristwatches and wall clocks or
silently on their more modern equivalents, the cell phone and
computer.
Last year a program on The Science Channel showed an experiment
in which various people were asked to judge when one minute was up
and sure enough the way people perceive time is age dependent.
Check out the video clip at http://science.discovery.com/videos/time-counting-minutes.html.
We have all kinds of things to say about the way we perceive
time, including “a watched pot never boils.” This was a side plot
in an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It’s funny, I
can’t remember the episodes’s main plot but can still remember
Data, that lovable android who, like Pinocchio, wants to be a “real
boy,” timing a pot of water repeatedly and finding that under
identical conditions a watched pot does indeed boil and in exactly
the same amount of time. It was only when he quit watching that he
didn’t feel the passage of time and was surprised to see the pot
boiling.
Other people have made interesting observations about time:
“For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the
eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of
work.” ~humorist Doug Larson.
“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip
by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.”
~James Matthew Barrie, author of “Peter Pan.”
“A good holiday is one spent among people whose notions of time
are vaguer than yours.” ~John B. Priestly, British novelist and
“sage.”
“Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.” ~Faith
Baldwin, American romance novelist.
“The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of
60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” ~C.S. Lewis,
British author famous for writing the “Chronicles of Narnia.”
“Day, n. A period of 24 hours, mostly misspent. “ ~Ambrose
Bierce, American journalist and columnist often described as a
cynic.
“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its
pupils.” ~Louis Hector Berlioz, French composer.
Generally, modern Western cultures tend to look at time as
linear. There is a distinct beginning — perhaps a Big Bang or a
Genesis. This is inevitably followed by an ending with the universe
either fading away to nothing — called the “big chill” — or
everything coming back together for another Big Bang.
Ancient cultures, along with many modern Native American and
Eastern cultures, tended to look at time as cyclical.
As an example, according to Anders Cullhed, professor of
comparative literature at the University of Stockholm:
“Pre-Socratic philosopher Pythagoras depicted history as one Great
Year (in Latin: Magnus Annus). When such a world historical cycle
came to an end, the sun, the moon and all other planets would
return to their original positions. Exactly the same people would
return to earth, all that had happened would happen once
again.”
I, for one, certainly hope this theory is incorrect.
The fact is, time is difficult to explain, especially as it
relates to our perceptions. This hasn’t changed since the early
Greeks and Romans. As Augustine of Hippo, Roman Church father and
saint, said more than 1,500 years ago: “What, then, is time? I know
well enough what it is, provided that nobody asks me; but if I am
asked what it is and try to explain, I am baffled.”
These days he would have shrugged his shoulders and said “beats
me.”