Linear Time Structure of the Western World

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Thanks to the linear time structure of the western world, time is no longer infinite. People of our culture constantly have to stress over rushing to arrive at an appointment on time, turning in an assignment by a particular day, or having a prepared meal on the table at 5 o’clock on the dot. As days are filled with schedules dictated by time, the time itself just seems to slip away. This passing of linear time creates the worry that life is too short and this generates the concern about death, especially about what happens when one dies. In the western world, we as a people are highly conscious of milestones measuring passing time as these marks signal the approach of the enigmatic death and remind us that our time is limited.

Before diving into this argument, it is interesting to understand the origin of this time structure in our society. The western world’s idea of linear time comes from the Hebraic influence on the culture. Outside of the Judeo-Christian sphere many cultures developed abiding by circular time which is based on natural cycles and happenings, such as the movement of planets. Circular time embeds people into the natural world -- linear time allows people to follow their separate path and with this comes the ability to dominate. By following this time structure people can be free to understand history and progress (“Chapter VII: Western Culture and Its Sources”). It is quite ironic, then, that a structure that was once meant to liberate people has caused suffocation.

This linear time structure has made time no longer seem infinite. This framework emphasizes a chronological order -- with time, of course, neatly organized into little intervals. This is drastically different from circular time which never ends ...

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...intless if we do not know what the unavoidable death will bring.

In the western society, our linear time structure has caused us to habitually separate time into intervals that consistently continue. The pressure these milestones place on people is enormous -- we are demanded to live life a certain way as there is always a time limit, even on the length of time we have in this world. Although these constraints tend to create the worry that life may not have meaning and bring with them the mystery of death, one must learn to emotionally separate oneself from this structure. Time as we have defined it is merely a human invention; aging and curiousness about the future are natural human instincts but when a man-made structure begins to cast a shadow of doubt on life’s meaning one must take a step back a realize that there is more to life than the ticking of a clock.

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