I have not known a moment since my conception when time did not regulate my life. The first moments of my life were catalogued by days, weeks, months, and trimesters. From my first breath, my daily life was organized by the nurses, and instinctively I knew when it was time for me to be fed. The only concept of time I knew was regulated by my digestive system and sleeping patterns. I had my own personal time.
Eventually I learned that the world ran on a certain standard of time, and I accepted it naturally. It became an extension of me. There was no questioning it, or wondering where the idea came from. To be honest, before reading The Culture of Time and Space, by Stephen Kern, I never had a reason to analyze the mystery and origin of time. After reading the many detailed definitions and various theories conceived by a plethora of philosophers, doctors, and scientists, some who I have heard about before and some who were complete strangers, I was still clueless as to why it was so important for them to define time. To me the thought of questioning time is such a foreign concept. To question time is like questioning God, its unthinkable!
At the beginning of the first chapter, Kern describes the early concept of time and why it suddenly became so important to regulate it. I was a little surprised to learn that such a significant concept as regulating time was initiated by the railroad system. It was very important for the railroad companies to come up with some sort of system to ensure that the train did not arrive late or depart late, which would result in a major loss in profits.
However, as important as it was for the private sector to regulate time, it really was the responsibility of the international governments. How could you initiate a “Standard Time” without the approval of the Federal government? Well, after the railways decided to switch, it was not long before the States began to follow in their lead. In England they developed Greenwich Mean Time, and in the Americas the Standard Time Zones, four in total for the US, were proposed at the Royal Canadian Institute. Some countries eagerly accepted standard time, while others such as France, were a little more resistant.
The adjustment between local time and standard time was at first very difficult. For many philosophers and scientists, the idea of regulating and standardizing the concept of time was difficult to accept. The main problem was how could there even be something such as standard time, when time itself was relative. Each person experiences their own time in correlation with their environment and their perception of the world. Time is relative. Einstein was the major supporter of this idea, and from the concept of time being relative, he created the Theory of Relativity. Such a major contribution to the world of physics was the result of one question - What is time?
Source:
Kern, Stephen. The Culture of Time and Space, 1880 – 1918. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2003. Print. Pages 1-35
Overall, I felt this essay got weaker as it progressed. The biggest problem I noticed with it was that it seemed to jump around and never fully develop an idea. The first two paragraphs seem markedly different from the final three, and even those three did not seem to have an overall purpose. However, the first two paragraphs started off very strong and made the rest of the essay seem promising. Focusing slightly more on an overarching idea and developing that idea would greatly help the essay from trailing off. I feel like this essay had a lot of potential, it just never accessed it.
ReplyDeleteEric Carl
I found your first paragraph to be very interesting. I had never considered time for me in that sense.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree that a sense of direction for this writing assignment is not specific. Despite this, you bring up some very good facts about the origin of a standard time.
AC