1. Time
"The clouds that could paralyze the sundial, the freezing that could stop the water clock on a winter night, were no longer obstacles to time-keeping: summer or winter, day or night, one was aware of the measured clank of the clock. [T]he regular striking of the bells brough a new regularity into the life of the workman and the merchant[;]for, the clock is not merely a means of keeping track of the hours, but of synchronizing the actions of men(
26)."–
Lewis Mumford, "Technics and Civilization" (with some rearrangements)"[From the fifteenth century on, w]aste of time became for Protestant religious preachers, like Richard Baxter, one of the most heinous sins. To spend time in mere sociability, or even in sleep, was reprehensible(
27)."–
ibid
"Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion(
40)."–
Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Miracle of Mindfulness:a manual on meditation"
"Life just seems to be getting faster, and more hectic each and every day. Clocks and our conception of time have had a lot o do with this, I think. Our digital clocks run our lives in a separate world, no longer tied, as Mumford talk about, to RL(real life). This digital clock is a step removed even from the analog clock in that maybe at least with the analog there was a sense of organicness there; a greater feeling of connection with the craftsman and to the passage of the sun across the sky. Though maybe that is just a fiction.
"Regardless of what kind of timepiece we have, however, our days are no longer ruled by the sun or the crops. In our modern technological society time is god, and the datebook is its divine ruler. Our weekends are planned out to the hour maybe for months. On weekends our activities, even if restful or enjoyable, are probably diverted by calls to consumerism, such as that by Mont Blanc, above.
"This abstract conception of time removes us from the reality at hand."
–Josh Knox
