time and culture
“What if told you that for many African societies the concept of future doesn’t exist, instead of time moving forward time actually moves backward.” @mumbipoetry
This idea comes from the Kenyan philosopher John Mbiti in his book African Religions and Philosophy. He describes time as a 2-dimensional phenomenon: Sasa, which is the now, the recent, and
... See moreIn northern Europe and the United States, which Dr. Hall labeled “monochronic” societies, he wrote that people tended to emphasize deadlines and work sequentially, completing one task before... See more
Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.
William Strauss • The Fourth Turning
“To indigenous, oral cultures, the ceaseless flux that we call 'time' is overwhelmingly cyclical in character. The senses of an oral people are still attuned to the land around them, still conversant with the expressive speech of the winds and the forest birds, still participant with the sensuous cosmos. Time, in such a world, is not separable from
... See moreThis form of time measurement is known as task orientation, and it is the kind of time that is kept in less industrialized societies. Task orientation is also characterized by a tendency not to make overly fine distinctions between “work” (doing chores) and “life” (chatting, eating, relaxing).
Judith Shulevitz • The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time
In the grand scope of history, Africa time, Alaska time, and Aboriginal time are normal. For the vast majority of our history, people have lived with a time sense that was circular, flexible, expandable, fluid, contextual, organic, and seasonal. Time was rich, mysterious, and alive. The default pace was easy and casual.
Frank Forencich • The Art is Long: Big Health and the New Warrior Activist
We experience time in a very different way from people immersed in flat schedules and story-less surfaces.
Tyson Yunkaporta • Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
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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