The Greeks knew that the more rational we usually are, the more important it is—at points—to fling ourselves around to the wild rhythms of pipes and drums. At the festivals of Dionysus, held in Athens in March every year, even the most venerable and dignified members of the community would join in with unrestrained dancing that, irrigated by

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Time, and how we experience time, is always a cultural creation. Most cultures are taught—to put this very simply—that time is circular. Subsequently, you can see the world being played out in a circular way. What’s interesting about Western cultures is, at some point, we said, “You know what? We’re not circular. We’re an arrow. We’re not looking

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With artificial light, we believe we defeat the sleep-wake cycle; with climate control, the seasonal cycle; with refrigeration, the agricultural cycle; and with high-tech medicine, the rest-recovery cycle. Triumphal linearism has shaped the very style of Western and (especially) American civilization. Before, when cyclical time reigned, people... See more