FACTS ABOUT TIME TO MESS UP YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

TIME HAS LONG BEEN A MAJOR SUBJECT OF STUDY

IN RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, AND SCIENCE, BUT

DEFINING IT IN A MANNER APPLICABLE TO ALL

FIELDS WITHOUT CIRCULARITY HAS CONSISTENTLY

ELUDED SCHOLARS. TO GET AN IDEA WHAT A GREAT

VARIETY OF OPINION THERE IS KEEP IN MIND THAT

ISAAC NEWTON CONSIDERED TIME TO BE ABSOLUTE

BUT ACCORDING TO EINSTEIN TIME IS MORE

FLEXIBLE AND RELATIVE IN SCOPE

THE SOVIET UNION EXPERIMENTED WITH FIVE- AND

SIX-DAY WEEKS BETWEEN 1929 AND 1931. DESPITE

THEIR AGONY TO DIFFERENTIATE THEIR SOCIAL

SCHEDULES FROM THE WEST, THE EXPERIMENT

FAILED MISERABLY AND THE SEVEN-DAY WEEK

WAS REINSTATED IN 1940

ARTEFACTS FROM THE PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD SUGGEST

THAT THE MOON WAS USED TO RECKON TIME AS

EARLY AS SIX THOUSAND YEARS AGO. LUNAR

CALENDARS WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO APPEAR,

EITHER TWELVE OR THIRTEEN LUNAR MONTHS

(EITHER 354 OR 384 DAYS)

A LARGE VARIETY OF DEVICES HAVE BEEN INVENTED

TO MEASURE TIME. THE STUDY OF THESE DEVICES

IS CALLED HOROLOGY. AN EGYPTIAN DEVICE THAT

DATES TO ABOUT 1500 BCE, SIMILAR IN SHAPE TO A

BENT T-SQUARE, MEASURED THE PASSAGE OF TIME

FROM THE SHADOW CAST BY ITS CROSSBAR ON A

NONLINEAR RULE. THE T WAS ORIENTATED EASTWARD

IN THE MORNINGS. AT NOON, THE DEVICE WAS TURNED

AROUND SO THAT IT COULD CAST ITS SHADOW IN

THE DIRECTION OF THE NIGHTFALL

IMMANUEL KANT, IN THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON,

DESCRIBED TIME AS AN A PRIORI INTUITION THAT

ALLOWS US (TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER A PRIORI

INTUITION, SPACE) TO COMPREHEND SENSE EXPERIENCE.

WITH KANT, NEITHER SPACE NOR TIME ARE CONCEIVED

AS SUBSTANCES, BUT RATHER BOTH ARE ELEMENTS

OF A SYSTEMATIC MENTAL FRAMEWORK THAT

NECESSARILY STRUCTURES THE EXPERIENCES OF

ANY RATIONAL AGENT, OR OBSERVING SUBJECT

HOWEVER, AN ANCIENT GREEK SOPHIST NAMED

ANTIPHON WAS THE FIRST TO DESCRIBE TIME AS

AN UNREAL THING. IN A FRAGMENT PRESERVED

FROM HIS CHIEF WORK ON TRUTH, HE HELD THAT

“TIME IS NOT A REALITY, BUT A CONCEPT

OR A MEASURE.”

IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY, CHRONOS (NOT TO BE

CONFUSED WITH KRONOS, THE LEADER OF THE

FIRST GENERATION OF TITANS AND FATHER OF

ZEUS) IS IDENTIFIED AS THE PERSONIFICATION

OF TIME. HIS NAME MEANS “TIME” AND HE IS

USUALLY PORTRAYED AS AN OLD, WISE MAN

WITH A LONG, GREY BEARD

NORMAL YEARS HAVE 365 DAYS BUT A LEAP YEAR

HAS 366. THE EARTH TAKES A LITTLE LONGER THAN

365 DAYS TO GO AROUND THE SUN SO WE ADD

AN EXTRA DAY IN FEBRUARY EVERY FOUR YEARS

(WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS) TO KEEP CALENDARS

AND SEASONS ALIGNED

THE SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF THE PASSING OF

TIME TENDS TO SPEED UP AS WE AGE. OLDER

PEOPLE OFTEN COMPLAIN THAT THE YEARS (AND

EVEN THE DAYS) PASS MUCH MORE QUICKLY THAN

THEY USED TO. VARIOUS EXPLANATIONS FOR

THIS COMMON EXPERIENCE HAVE BEEN PUT

FORWARD WITH THE MOST POPULAR SUGGESTING

THAT YOUNGER PEOPLE ARE STILL LIVING

THROUGH NEW AND INTERESTING EXPERIENCES

(RATHER THAN REPEATED AND ROUTINE) THAT

REQUIRE MORE NEURAL RESOURCES AND BRAINPOWER