On Time
Saint Augustine has a great meditation on the concept of time where he talks about the slipperiness of trying to define it. I like the idea of a muddle-headed philosopher and he definitely comes across as one when he admits to confusion when trying to pin down what exactly we’re talking about when we use words like “the past,” “the present,” and “the future.” The interesting thing in his little discourse is that neither the past nor the future really exists. The past is just something in our heads, a memory perhaps, and the future is equally just an abstraction. And then he goes one step further to say that the present is in flux between these two. When we say “now,” it has already slipped into the past.I agree with Augustine that time may just be a concept or an idea that doesn’t really exist. But it may just be one of those necessary categories of thought that William James and, I believe, Kant say are necessary for humans to believe in, regardless.
I was talking to my friend Charlie the other day about his busy schedule and being in college. And it brought up my theory of how we measure time and how I think it changes throughout our lives.
When I was in high school, the basic unit of time was a day. All of our responsibilities and appointments revolved around asking ourselves “what do I have to do today?” Every new day brought the same basic schedule-go to this class, then this class, and then this class… And when I went to college, it seems the basic unit of time was expanded out to a week-“Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I do this and then on Tuesday and Thursday I do that.” On Sunday nights I would organize in my head what was coming up for the following week.
When I say “the basic unit of time,” I suppose I really mean “the amount of time that passes without our really being aware of it.” Since I’m out of college, it seems that I make plans and keep a schedule in my head for about two weeks out. So, I think that two weeks is now my base. Maybe when I get to be my parents’ age, it’ll be a month or two. Maybe if I get to be my grandparents’ age, it’ll be a year or two.
Anyway, the mind is a pretty incredible device to be keeping tabs on the flux of this thing called “time,” the reality of which it can’t even convince itself.
posted by Mike @ 12:23 PM
2 Comments:
If you want to read an interesting idea about the concept of time and God's ability to answer prayer you should read C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity."
That'll blow your mind.
i think my basic unit of time now revolves around television. i think "oh it's a quarter passed Raymond," or "ten minutes till the golden girls." it's amazing how life passes you by when you are not governed by "school-time."
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