Two times a year, the clock changes. We either get an hour more or an hour less. We’re all so used to this that it doesn’t even strike us as odd anymore. Two times a year, out entire perception of time changes. We, as human beings, change time two times a year. One could argue that we –the human race- are also the inventors of time. We are the only ones who actively perceive the passage of time. Do animals notice time go by? Do they ponder their past, present and future? Time is something that is seen as natural to us. Of course time goes by, there is no other possibility. Without time, there would be no actions; there would be no progress, no change. Time is the true unit of measure. For those of us who have seen the science fiction movie Lucy, that sentence sounds familiar. In this movie a woman named Lucy –played by our talented ScarJo- ingests a new drug that allows someone to access the entirety of your brain. This woman then develops all sorts of strange abilities and there are of course –it’s a Hollywood movie after all- a whole lot of violent action scenes and car chases. The movie then ends with –SPOILER- Lucy accessing all 100% of her brain and then explaining how the universe works to a bunch of scientists, after which she disappears because that is apparently the ultimate form of human existence: not existing at all. In this final scene Lucy explains that human kind has invented all these units of measuring so we can make sense of the world: for example the metric system. However, according to our 100% Lucy, these are all obsolete. We use these systems to measure our world and size it down so our minds can comprehend it. The only true system is time. Everything we do, everything we experience is measured against time. Every action is only able to happen because of time, and all these actions put together make up the fabric of our reality. All of this might seem too philosophical, too theoretical, but to me it actually makes sense. Maybe that’s because I am in fact a synesthete. I know; what the hell is that? The most known form of synesthesia –the union of senses- is when a person can see sounds or smells in different colours. My synesthesia however is the visual perception of abstract concepts, like for instance time.
“In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be “farther away” than 1990), or may appear as a three-dimensional map (clockwise or counterclockwise). Synesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways.” -Wikipedia
Honestly, I didn’t even know that other people do not have this and thought like this until like two years ago. But I am going off topic: we were talking about time. Because of our extremely connected world through new technologies and digital media, we can now communicate with people in completely different time zones, giving a whole new layer of meaning to time. It’s easy to forget that time is also happening somewhere else, since we are all living in our own little microcosms of our lives, but this new global interconnected world is creating new awareness. By changing our clocks two times a year, are we really changing time itself, or just our personal perceptions of time? At this note I will leave you in madness and desperation. Greetings from your weekly creator of existential confusion.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia (for if you want to read a little bit more about synesthesia)
Hello Moos,
Very interesting piece! I think time is one of those concepts that will always interest and trouble people because of its complex nature. I like your perception on it and found it very amusing to read 🙂
Groetjess