What is Time? Does it Exist, How Does it Fit in To Our Human Experience?

NOTABLE POINTS OF DISCUSSION:

Polychronic (A polychronic time system means several things can be done at once. In polychronic time systems, a wider view of time is exhibited, and time is perceived in large fluid sections) vs Monochronic (A monochronic time system means that things are done one at a time and time is segmented into small precise units. Under this system, time is scheduled, arranged, and managed) time. Read more about them here
Time is a construct best used as a tool to help us navigate our reality
AI may resolve some decision paralysis in the future if it can aide in organizing our daily/weekly schedules and routines
Just as the heart rate slows and becomes more efficient when exposed to repetitions of high intensity cardio, life can often force us into periods of intense stress/speed that are followed by a more peaceful time of rest and increased resilience
Time often feels like it is against us, but it is our relationship towards it that can cause us to either feel trapped or free
Time is important in modern society, especially in monochronic areas, where speed tends to reign king as attention spans decrease and patience becomes more rare. It is time (haha) to remodel the way time is used in highly monochronic areas into a more sustainable way of life

QUESTIONS WITHOUT CLEAR ANSWERS:

How would our relationship to time change if we never died? Would we be able to feel the passage of time the way we can feel about how long 15 minutes is? Would we feel pressured to do anything at all if not out of boredom?
How would things change if we used the technology we have to create minute-by-minute time zones across the world? (in one city it is 2:48pm, in the city 90 miles away it is 2:49 pm)
In the future, how will the divide between people living in monochronic time sharpen or loosen between people who live in polychronic time?
Is it possible to use time as just a tool rather than a source of control, to only use it when completely necessary?
Is there a different time in which the universe operates outside of our 24 hour day and varying calendars? How would it work, and would the universe be controlled by it or be its controller?
Is time a separate dimension, must it always be connected with space in space-time? How would it look if it were a tangible object we could see and touch?

RELEVANT MEDIA:

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

THE GENERAL CONSENSUS:
I’ll begin by defining what we mean by polychronic and monochronic time, since these ideas were presented to many of us for the first time at the discussion by one of our thinkers. These ideas are cultural views of time. Most polychronic time lives on in Latin American, African, Arab, South Asian, Mediterranean, and Native American communities. Polychronic time is looser and more vague, exact numbers on a clock are not often utilized. Monochromic time is prevalent in North European cultures, German-speaking countries, and the Scandinavian countries, and is precise, commodified, measured. For the purpose of this article, I’ll be referring to monochronic cultures as we are based in the United States and typically use monochromic systems.

Time is known to us as a tool that we construct and constantly reinforce for each other, telling employees to work for exactly 7 hours, at 4:30 you have a meeting with Them that you cannot be a minute late for, They’re very busy you know, and also you should spend 30 minutes meditating after dinner. No more, no less. And it works, the employees show up at 8am and leave at 3pm on the dot, everyone is at the meeting by 4:25, the timer goes off after 30 minutes and we get up and move on to the next task.

We think that we possess time, as if it were a precious commodity. The tighter we hold onto it, the more scarce it feels and the more protective we are over it. Time is valuable, time is money, time is what we run into by trying to run away from death. We are so calculative with time because we know we only have so much of it, and how much we’ll never know. We are afraid of wasting it away on the wrong people or activities or media. We label some things as “good” uses of time and others as “bad,” but if we were to zoom out and see time as just a tool rather than a home we live in, all experiences become equally valid and valuable.

In our perception, time runs linear, present follows past and precedes future. In this way, we build our lives based on what we know from the past in the present moment to prepare for future moments. This is necessary to learn and grow and keep ourselves alive and well, but there is a nuance to it that evades many of us. Uncertainty creeps into the essence of now, we feel the need to plan what will happen next to avoid feeling negative things, including the uncertainty stalking us from the corner of the room.

But time is not linear, time is not what we perceive it to be at all. It seems beyond our ability to understand anything outside of time. Everything that has ever happened or will happen exists simultaneously in the big web of space-time. If we could extract ourselves from the bodies we live in and enter space beyond space, above all physical phenomena, above death, above birth, above mental concepts, maybe we could understand the timeless existence of the universe. Maybe we could see time as a dimension the same way we can see the three dimensions of a couch. Maybe we could play with time, touch and alter and bend it into a different shape producing a different reality on earth.

Yes, that would be cool and all but we cannot do that (yet). We must still use the tool of time to navigate the reality we do live in, where it is necessary to arrive at places when we are supposed to in order to fulfill our duties and care for one another. We must know how long to leave bleach in the hair, how long to cook the chicken, how many minutes it will take the bus to reach the stop. For many of us, time constricts us and fuels anxiety. The way in which we use time in the modern world is harsh and unnatural, it chafes our skin and divides us down to the second. Society rushes us forward, dragging our feet against the asphalt. We try to keep up with work and school and family and friends and partners, health and fitness and hobbies, meditation and reading and resting. Everything in 24 hours. Rushing through each task to finish the absurd load we feel pressured to include in daily routine. Time crushes us in this way, it is unsustainable and leads to burnout. We have seen this cycle repeating yet refuse to make real change. We must start now, we must continue the slow progression towards slower life. All of the little things add up, the things we have heard over and over like shopping locally, spending more time outside doing nothing, refusing to engage in work outside of office hours, reducing screen time, all of the things we know already. We must continue reshaping our relationship towards time.

There are periods in life where we do have to be busy and run around moving energy constantly to get to where we want to be. It takes a lot of movement to make significant changes in life, whether that’s in our careers, relationships, family affairs, lifestyle choices, etc. During these times of transitory change, it can feel too intense for us to handle. Yet everything passes, everything changes. After periods of intensity, we learn how to rest better, we build resilience, we gain deeper understandings of ourselves and of how we would like to use our time. It must be remembered that life moves in cycles like this always, and periods of peace will follow the eons of stress. Even if we do not experience consistent peace in our lifetime, the work we put in during our turbulent lives may be the foundation of steady, peaceful times for future generations. The cycles will persist past our own time on this earth, the cycles are bigger than our individual lives.

It would be interesting to know how we would think of time if we never died. Death appears as a motivator for us to do things with our lives and the time we have. If we never died, would we think about time at all? Would we feel the desire to do anything for the sake of “becoming” someone significant, or would we only do things for the sake of doing them or out of pure boredom? Would we be able to feel time passing? It would still be helpful to use a clock to plan when to meet someone, but would it be necessary otherwise? What about sleep, would our sleep schedule remain similar, would we be able to stay awake for days on end? Is sleep only necessary if the body dies? Would there be more people on earth if no one could die, or would we be careful with bringing new life into the world knowing it would never die? Again, we will never know the answer to these things, but maybe they could help us find answers to the questions we have about the time we do exist with.