Episode Seven: Technology and Time
Technology and Time
1. Visual - Medieval Calendars
People in medieval times conceived of time differently than us, and therefore experienced time differently. In the modern era, time is fairly homogenized, and is marked mainly by school and work year. In medieval times it was ruled primarily by the seasons and the church year (which were intimately connected). Medievals experienced time as cyclical, communal, and meaningful. You can see this demonstrated in their calendars.
Circular

Astronomical clock:Prague, Czech Republic — including the monthly labours.
As you can see from this giant clock, each year was conceived of as a circle. Life was made up of repeating patterns, seasons, and festivals. The repetition of each season reminded one of an eventual break with time: eternity. Just as Spring's power came bursting forth and anew every year, the medievals lived in anticipation of a someday eternal summer.
communal

Red Letter Days
This phrase comes from the most important Saints Days in the medieval monthly calendars which were noted by red ink.
Each month held specific expectations for all the people, meaning that you never had the illusion of control over time. You were subject to time, and not the other way around.
meaningful

Labours of the Month
Each month of the medieval calendar had a "labour" appropriate to it. Examples: Feasting (Jan), Sitting by the Fire (Feb), Digging Trees (March), etc.
For a medieval person, all moments were bursting with meaning. Each week had a Saint, a celebration, a task, a feast.
What are the markers of your time? How do you imagine time?
For more reading, check out these links...
2. Literary: Brave New World
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Brave New World

A Dystopian Future... or is it?
In the Brave New World, everything is convenient and nothing needs to be waited for. In the World State, all the demands and effects of time have been all but eliminated. Children are incubated in a lab, so no woman waits the patient months of pregnancy. Everyone is sterile, so there are no (practical) ramifications for rampant promiscuity. And when people grow old, they are killed. However, in conquering time, the people of the brave new world have lost all that is essentially human: love, birth, death, longing.
3. Musical: We Used to Wait
Arcade Fire
lyrics:
I used to write
I used to write letters
I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing lights settled deep in my brain
But by the time we met
By the time we met the times had already changed
So I never wrote a letter
I never took my true heart,
I never wrote it down
So when the lights cut out
I was lost standing in the wilderness downtown
Now our lives are changing fast.
Now our lives are changing fast.
Hope that something pure can last.
Hope that something pure can last.
Now it seems strange
How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what's stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive
We used to wait.
We used to waste hours just walking around
We used to wait.
All those wasted lives in the wilderness downtown
We used to wait. We used to wait. We used to wait.
Sometimes it never came
We used to wait
Sometimes it never came
We used to wait
I'm still moving through the pain
I'm gonna write
A letter to my true love
I'm gonna sign my name
Like a patient on a table I wanna walk again
Gonna move to the pain
Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last
We used to wait We used to wait We used to wait
Sometimes they never came
We used to wait
Sometimes they never came
We used to wait
I'm still moving through the pain
We used to wait We used to wait We used to wait We used to wait for it We used to wait for it
Now we're screaming "sing the again"
We used to wait for it
We used to wait for it
Now we're screaming "sing the again"
I used to wait for it
I used to wait for it
Hear my voice screaming "sing the again"
Wait for it Wait for it Wait for it
So what do you think?
how does technology shape your experience of time? How can you reclaim the goodness of waiting?