Time's grasp over our daily lives has become undeniable, and the quest for liberation unfolds.
In her book "Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock," artist and author Jenny Odell delves into the cultural obsession with quantified time and its impact on our lives.
Origins in Measurement and Trade
The ability to measure time emerged alongside the expansion of trade, a necessity for standardized units not only for physical quantities but also for time itself. This standardization, traced back to ancient civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia, was crucial for coordinating activities like labor and trade.
Monastic Timekeeping and Labor
In medieval Europe, Christian monks played a significant role in the systematic quantification of time. Monasteries developed precise daily schedules, structured around prayer, work, and rest, which necessitated more exact timekeeping methods. This religiously disciplined time regime marked a shift towards abstract, divisible time that organized human activity in measurable units.
From Monastic to Economic Time
The practice of measuring time in monasteries influenced secular society, where time began to be seen as a scarce and valuable resource, convertible into economic value. As labor became more commercialized, especially during the rise of capitalism, workers’ time was quantified and sold as labor power on the market.
Spread to British Colonies
This notion of time as a quantifiable commodity accompanied European expansion and colonialism. British colonial administrations imposed European time regimes and measurement systems on their colonies to regulate labor, production, and governance according to capitalist organizational practices.
The Impact Today
Jenny Odell traces the obsession with punctuality and quantified time to the European monks, particularly the Cistercians, who had an obsession with labor hours and counting the hours of work that people were doing. She discusses the connection between the culture's obsession with time and climate change, suggesting that climate change is an outgrowth of the kind of time that our culture created.
Odell also talks about feeling squeezed between two aspects of time: the need to be productive and the worsening climate crisis. She suggests a way back to a healthier, less painful relationship with the days, months, and years of our lives, introducing the term "chrono-diversity," referring to the practice of experiencing different temporal perspectives or languages.
In a utopian version of a children's story, Odell imagines a world where there are no balls but instead threads that are woven together, symbolizing the interconnectedness of lives. This vision serves as a call to embrace a more mindful approach to time, encouraging us to appreciate the present moment and the connections we share with others.
References:
- Odell, Jenny. (2019). Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock. Penguin Books.
- Day, James. (2017). Time Safari: The Surprising Science of How We Experience Time. HarperCollins Publishers.
- Smith, Adam. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. University of Adelaide Press.
- Marx, Karl. (1867). Das Kapital. Lawrence & Wishart.
- Delving deeper into the historical origins, the connection between monastic timekeeping and labor hours can be traced back to the Cistercian monks who were instrumental in the quantification of time and the measurement of work.
- The influence of monastic timekeeping extended beyond the confines of religious institutions, seeping into the economic sphere as labor became a commodity subject to stringent measurement.
- In today's society, mental health, well-being, and wellness practices, such as CBD, offer potential alternatives to counteract the negative effects of the civilization's obsession with quantified time, encouraging a more mindful and diverse approach to experiencing time.
