How is it time seems to pass by so quick in certain moments but then time will take forever in other instances? To humans, time seems inconstant yet they assign tiny units to time to help guide them on a daily basis. One might even be tricked into thinking that not looking at their watch as much will make the time go by faster. It is all a matter of perception, and technological advances in the past century have altered this perception of time.
In Stephen Kern’s book The Culture of Time and Space, the reader is taken on a journey through technological advances beginning in the late 1880’s. Kern spends a good part focusing only on time. Kern discusses the “blurring of time”. Specifically he was referring to Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb and how it seemed to “blur” night and day. All people had before lights were candles and probably some sort of oil light. Now all of a sudden the time of day that was so restricted has become as clear as day. People can treat night as day now.
Much like light bulbs opened up new possibilities for humans and changed their perception of time, cinemas did nearly the same. Cinemas were this new canvas for artists to play with. All of a sudden directors are experimenting with showing time in their films. They can cut away or go right back to a scene. Director’s can reverse or speed up time. It seems the more the directors play with time in their films, the more the audience can get lost in the film. I am sure everyone knows that feeling when they have sunken into a really good movie and maybe you are at the climax. Everything else in the room and what’s going on in your life is invisible. You feel like you are inside the movie. People enjoy movies for this exact reason, that feeling of getting lost in them.
It seems that technology has refined the art of “getting lost.” From thousands of dollars for a surround sound digital entertainment system to the latest in Apple gear, humans seem fascinated by this hobby of technology. We want to learn more and get more. And it seems the more we get, the more we “blur” time, or at least our perception of it. We carry portable everything these days so that we can speed up time and be entertained wherever we are.
I feel like I have experienced both sides on the matter of technology. I enjoy backpacking and recall a few experiences where I have had nothing more high tech than a light bulb. All you have is yourself and the woods. Time seems uniform but at the same time you forget about it. There is no technology to remind you about the time or what you can multitask into these next few moments of free time. I would have to say technology makes me anxious at times. The more stuff I have cluttered into my life the more time is “blurred.” I think of the “blurring of time” as unhealthy to do too often. It is good to enjoy a good movie or computer game every so often but only in moderation.
Technology has had an extreme impact on time and society. An invention as simple as the lightbulb holds the power to change the pattern of human society. Instead of being controlled by the light of day, we now have the ability to work comfortably at night by the man-made electric light. Cinemas give artists the power to control and contort time the way a god would. They use these abilities to drag people in by creating an entertaining nonrealistic world. Indeed, technology in part is man's attempt to act as god in some ways. We want to be as efficient as possible. We want to be in as many places at once as possible. We want to know everything everywhere as much as possible. It's as if we are trying our best to reach out towards omniscience and omnipresence and even a bit of omnipotence in our lust for technology. That is truly the danger.
ReplyDeleteTechnology did and still does have a significant 'blurring' effect on time. Especially modern day between 'getting lost' in a movie or a game and getting constant feedback from sources like Twitter. I would also agree that this strain on our time by technology is unhealthy in the long run and I mourn the loss of personal time.
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