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[efg7]

from the book i started earlier today:

"Many are convinced that mechanical time does not exist. When they pass the giant clock on the Kramgasse they do not see it; nor do they hear its chimes while sending packages on Postgasse or strolling between flowers in the Rosengarten. They wear watches on their wrists, but only as ornaments or as

Comments

[melodyd]

what book is this?

[efg7]

it's called Einstein's Dreams, by Alan Lightman... my boyfriend gave it to me to read a couple months ago and it accidentally sat forgotten in the backseat of my car. however i pulled it out today while waiting for my car to finish being serviced, and i was quite glad i had it. its a rather small little book that's easy to breeze through. its all about musings on time and how people perceive it. pretty interesting.

[melodyd]

I'm going to have to find this one. Thanks! :)

[theboythoreau]

I'm definitely a punctual person, can't stand lateness. But I eat when I'm hungry and, generally, listen to my body and act accordingly. Maybe a bit of a mixture, but probably leaning toward the "mechanical time" option.

[dvorak4672]

YAY!!! I'm glad you got started on Einstein's Dreams. It is one of my favorites! The perfect book to take out.... read a chapter or two... and be put in a wonderful meditative state.

PS when I hear you say "I Love You" ....it makes my heart melt

[efg7]

well i started it when i was waiting in the car dealership earlier (sooo glad it was in my car! it had slid under the seat in the back somehow and i'd forgotten about it) and got up to page 85. which, considering how small the book is and the font/spacing and whatnot, is not really much i suppose... but given that i can sometimes not be the fastest reader, i guess its pretty good :) i think i'm about halfway through. and you know... i should find this one book i have... i think you might like it. lots of stuff related to time and time travel and stuff. (though you should still read The Glass Castle :P). aaaand i forgot to look for Sedaris when i was over there... silly me. oh well.

PS- so glad i watched that movie with *you* last night. watching it with anyone else (or even worse, alone) would be so hard without having someone to grab and hold onto like that in those spots. ughh. and thank goddd for Seinfeld! (i also just made a post in the music comm asking if anyone had the soundtrack)

♥

[hmm_its_tiffany]

i think everyone is a mixture of both. i definitely lean heavily in the second category. clocks and watches are integral parts of my life. i have owned the same guess watch for seven years now (whoah it has been that long), and i have a watch tan. i find myself looking at my watch, cell phone clock, or other clock quite often. i use my (flexible) alarm clock every single day including weekends, even though i don't necessarily follow it (i'm a huge snoozer). for example, today i set my alarm for 7:45, and then i snoozed and just plain ignored my alarm and didn't get up until past 9. i am a real stickler for being ontime and am usually early. i can get annoyed when other people aren't timely because i feel like they're wasting my time by making me wait and that i put in the effort to be ontime, so they should too. however, i hate being the first one there, so i will make myself go later, which sometimes causes me to be late (especially when i'm going to a place i've never been to before). i am a huge planner and scheduler, but

[p0s1tr0n]

This misses the point.

It's not whether or not we are governed by biochemical/bioelectrical machinations, because that's scientifically inarguable. It's how we interpret them behaviorally that matters. Everybody takes a somewhat impressionistic view of their stimuli and filters it through memory, training, the limbic system, etc...

Whether or not that results in a forced-perspective or relativistic view of time isn't really relevant to a discussion of the body or motivation. This is what happens when authors attempt to be scientists :/

[efg7]

eh, i agree. that passage just caught my attention and i thought i'd post it. i dont think the author was trying to be all "this is what i'm saying and it's the way things are"... the whole book is just speculative temporal musings. anyway i think its somewhat impossible to be totally one or the other of those types. just thought it was good food for thought.