Borrowed Time: Imposed Synchronicity An Examination of Time and its Meaning

Abstract

Time governs our lives. But whose time is it? Through the centuries, the easy rhythm of the seasons has been superseded by increasingly accurate measurements and infinitesimally smaller increments of time. From town organization during the Renaissance to a single universal time established in the 1884 Meridian Conference to time used as force by governments, time is molded by the people who inhabit its eons. Imperialism carries with it the implication that time is not simply the hours on the clocks but the attitudes of the governing. For a contemporary audience, Covid-19 has changed the measurement of time itself, and perhaps long-lasting changes to working hours will be the result. There is now a deliberate decoupling of Industrial ideas of time equaling money. Drawing together philosophy, literature, history, science, art, and recent experiments, time and its imposed synchronicity is examined and analyzed. Additionally, time and its relationship to space, through spacetime is also explored from a number of angles. Time, and its power, has shifted throughout the centuries. What remains true is that synchronicity is multi-layered, in terms of nature and society, and that people continue to shape time for its usage and endow it with new meanings. This paper seeks to explore the multidisciplinary nature of time, embedded into all lives, in a sample of the myriad ways time is experienced. It seeks, in part, to show that the shadow of the historical past is not behind us, but beside us moment by moment. Textual analysis for sources from a variety of fields was employed to facilitate a qualitative and exploratory methodology.