Measuring Time
“According to neuroscientists, there is not a single organ or system in the body responsible for timekeeping. In fact, psychologists have identified many factors that affect our sense of time, some of which explain our heightened awareness of it this year.”
We have eyes for measuring light, ears for measuring sound, tongues covered in buds for measuring taste, and noses for measuring smell. We have nerve endings that measure the hardness or softness of an object. But we have no body part that we use—even in conjunction with other body parts—for measuring time. We need to look outside ourselves to a clock to know the minute, even if we can guess the hour based on where the sun is in the sky. We allow time to rule our lives, even though it’s something that we can’t perceive without help.
Isn’t that such a weird thought?
4 comments
That explains why we’re so terrible at it. There was an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry where you would press a button when you thought 30 seconds had gone by. No one could do it accurately.
What an interesting thought. I need to have a watch on me all the time. I don’t know at all how to guess the time. I only understand morning, noon and night by hunger pangs.
It’s such a fascinating thought!
I’m wondering if time isn’t absolute, but rather relational. Maybe that’s why we don’t have a sensory organ for it; time measures the movement of the earth, our moon, the time it takes to get from one place to another. Always relational. Light and nectar have their traits regardless of being observed (do they?), but time exists to help us mark the relationship we have with aspects of nature.
Or not. You’ve given me much to think about!
Fascinating! I have lucky guesses for the time and am usually within 5 minutes, but when it comes to the passing of time I struggle. Which is another weird thought, time as a fixed point (what time is it?) vs a sense of elapsed time. I can’t guess how much time is left on a timer, ever. Time is kind of freaky when you stop to think about it.