Special relativity asserts that time changes with respect to changes in perspective. Although realistic physical movement generally operates at non-relativistic velocities, this discovery incites insightful discourse upon time. As such, the theory elucidates a discernible truth regarding the psychological effects of time. Being a mischievous jester playing professional pranks on my life, time and duration perception becomes a source of hopelessness. Hopelessness causes lowered confidence. Lowered confidence causes intimidation. Intimidation causes fear. Thus, I fear time.
Time is nature. Nature is ironic. Therefore, time is ironic. When I am flooded with a desire for furtherance of knowledge, emulation of professionals, development of expertise, time will pass too quickly and I will naturally be imposed with time constraints. These mark the times where I attempt to work to the utmost of my abilities. Time prevents this. When I am disinterested for furtherance of knowledge, emulation of professionals, development of expertise, time will pass too slowly and I will naturally be free from time restrictions. These mark the times where I resort to idleness. Yet, time provides the freedom to explore.
Thus, time infiltrates into every element of life, mocking me from all possible angles, withdrawing when sought, collecting when futile. Time belittles my work habits, seeking to destruct, destroy and demoralize me. I loathe time, but yet, I fear time, for time acts as an omnipotent dictator that so often interweaves and intervenes through my life, and the lives of many others. Life is the totalitarian state over which time maintains absolute control with an iron hand. However, in this case, time will never become democratic.
A fear of and slavery to the wrath of time is indeed an inhibitor to success. However, in addition to analysis, this reflection has provided a novel solution to be rid of that terrible tyranny of time: Let not time control I, but rather, let I control time.
This is beautiful and heartwarming in contrast to all the stereo-typical, and now clichéd fear of failures out there. Vincent, your quest for knowledge is truely noble and admirable by me. Keep on this righteous path my brother, for no matter what you achieve in your life I will respect you as long as you live your life for you. Keep questioning and inquiring for the world needs more people like you. You are starting a revolution against the mundane redundancies of typical teenagedom. You are love and peace and I exhalt upon you my highest praises.
ReplyDeleteHi Vincent,
ReplyDeleteYour reference and use of scientific reasoning to explain your fear of time alludes to the role of the physical brain in our fears. In a recent psychology course, I learned that a structure in the brain called the hippocampus essentially encodes the context associated with any fearful situation. This then causes a conditioned fear of not only an idea itself but also the circumstances in which it occurs. Perhaps your conscious knowledge of the inevitable passing of time causes an automatically decreased ability to focus even prior to beginning the task. The only way to act on the solution you propose of controlling time, then, would be to set to achieve a certain goal in a certain amount of time and then succeed in doing so. Ideally, the repetition of this success will encode in your brain a new memory associated with time, thus disassociating it with fear.
This, I must say, is new. I don't think I've ever, in my life, heard of someone who fears time. Although I suppose the fear of aging that many middle-aged women have could be counted as a fear of time. I wonder why this is your fear. I mean, are you afraid that you'll run out of time before you've accomplished everything that you wanted to accomplish, or that time will go by too quickly and before you're ready, you'll be an adult and forced to fend for yourself? Just as a final thought, which is mostly directed at Rowan, the fear of failure was not originally a cliché, it was a fear generated by society's idealization of success, and of fame and fortune. However, thanks to our society's values, this fear has become a bit of a cliché, although, like all other clichés, they are not without merit, and not without truth.
ReplyDelete@Raymond
ReplyDeleteIt's been a cliché for centuries now... so I think we are well beyond saying "oh! but it wasn't originally a cliché!". Regardless though, looking at all the people who have been trodden upon and disenfranchised by our society's unattainable standards (unattainable by honest means to speak) I'd have to say the merit is lost upon me. I think that as humans, we can think about our actions and move beyond instinct and therefore we have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to move beyond the days of natural selection, and promote individuality while maintaining a healthy level of community.
oh and it's more commonly men whom experience mid-life crisis
ReplyDeleteA fear of time is something that I believe is fairly rampant among civilization, but never before have I seen someone directly point this out. It can something very subtle, like a person who does whatever they can to stay young, or someone who rushes day to day tasks. It's not obvious, but with your strong analysis I have gained great insight to this fear for what it is.
ReplyDeleteRay: I am mainly referring to the psycological games that time can play. The perception of time changes continually, but seemingly always in the opposite direction as your desires. There is always a lot more to accomplish, a lot more to learn than there is time allocated for. You summarized this in your question, "are you afraid that you'll run out of time before you've accomplished everything that you wanted to accomplish?", to which the answer is certainly yes. I wish to achieve much in as short a time possible, yet without sacrificing any completeness in the quality of achievement. Ironically, in practicality, I am the reverse.
ReplyDelete"A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have lost no time. But that happeneth rarely" (Bacon).
ReplyDeleteI wish this was more often the case.