The beginning of time (original) (raw)
Events and children's sense of time: a perspective on the origins of everyday time-keeping
In this article I discuss abstract or pure time versus the content of time, (i.e., events, activities, and other goings-on). Or, more specifically, the utility of these two sorts of time in time-keeping or temporal organization. It is often assumed that abstract, uniform, and objective time is a universal physical entity out there, which humans may perceive of. However, this sort of evenly flowing time was only recently introduced to the human community, together with the mechanical clock. Before the introduction of mechanical clock-time, there were only events available to denote the extent of time. Events defined time, unlike the way time may define events in our present day culture. It is therefore conceivable that our primeval or natural mode of time-keeping involves the perception, estimation, and coordination of events. I find it likely that events continues to subserve our sense of time and time-keeping efforts, especially for children who have not yet mastered the use of clock-time. Instead of seeing events as a distraction to our perception of time, I suggest that our experience and understanding of time emerges from our perception of events.
An Erotics of Time: Toward the Cross-Cultural Study of Temporal Experience
Revista de Antropologia da UFSCar, 2017
Research in anthropology and sociology has focused on the social organization of time and time reckoning. There is, consequently, an emphasis on cross-cultural differences in the meaning of time. This line of inquiry neglects variation in the perceived passage of time as well as temporal agency. Following a review of extant research in anthropology, I call for cross-cultural research on the perception of time or subjective temporal experience. Using a theoretical framework for the study of social interaction, I point to scattered evidence for cross-cultural uniformity in the perception of time and temporal agency. I conclude with a call for further investigation of these topics.
Time in Culture is a short documentary that shows how ideas of time are expressed in different cultures and languages. In Western cultures time is measured by clocks and calendars using numbers. Calendars and clocks enable us to measure time intervals: years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. The past is thought of as located behind our backs, while the future is in front or ahead. Is this the way that everyone, in every culture, thinks and talks about time? This documentary tells the story of how three indigenous cultures of Brazil, think about, talk about and experience time. The Huni Kuĩ, Kamaiurá, and Awetý people talk about time very differently from us. These cultures do not use clocks and calendars. So individuals do not count their birthdays. Instead, they think about their lives in terms of life stages and the process of learning and acquiring skills throughout the life span. For these cultures, time is thought about in terms of events and happenings, in nature and in the social world. The sounds of the crickets, the sun and the sunlight, the stars, the water level in the rivers, the rain, the breeze and the stars indicate time. The relationship between people and the environment is crucial for understanding time. Time, they say, is not behind or in front of me, but it is in my heart, in my eyes or in my mind. Vera da Silva Sinha is a PhD in Linguistics at the University of East Anglia. Her research topic is linguistic and cultural conceptualizations of time in indigenous languages of Brazil. This research investigates the relationship between spatial and temporal language and concepts, and the way in which concepts of time vary between languages and cultures. Through field research she tries to understand the way in which indigenous Amazonian concepts of time are organized and expressed in language structure, cosmologies and myths. Vera obtained her Bachelor's degree in Portuguese language and literature at the Federal University of Rondônia in 1994. She has successfully completed two Master's degrees in Social Sciences (Anthropology, Federal University of Pernambuco, 2000; Comparative Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, 2004). She has worked in diverse academic and non-academic professional settings, from the criminal justice system, through heritage and community engagement to anthropological and linguistic research in Brazil, Sweden and the UK. Vera's research interests include indigenous and minority identities, mythic and historical narratives, immaterial heritage, number and quantificational concepts, motion, space and time. https://vimeo.com/261572557