Notes on Time, Part 2
On the Media's most recent episode opened with a searing excerpt from [I think] FDR's critique of war profiteering. This took me to a speech I'd never read before: FDR's speech announcing the Second New Deal in October 1936. I don't think it's the same speech excerpted in the opening segment, but a small section stood out:
But what I was really struck by was Brooke Gladstone's discussion of time. She began with a reference to a film-making project prepared by Olmo Parenti in which the filmmakers asked Italians under self-quarantine to address themselves 10 days previous (coverage in The Atlantic and the YouTube video). She references an article published in Psychology Today (Marc Wittman, "Letter from Italy," March 18, 2020) with a set of reflections about time prepared by Massimo Agnoletti:
On the other hand, there seems to be something imprecise about the linkage between individual perceptions of time and this sort of culture-talk. (And my thanks to Ilaria for this reference!) [Oh, of course Italians are a certain way, because they're a fatalist Mediterranean culture, while the South Koreans are much more future-oriented.] Such discussions of culture tend to (a) assume that the 'nation' provides a relatively coherent map-container within which cultures exist; and (b) tend to ignore how cultures come to be produced in the first place.
So a better project would be exploring how exactly particular temporal frames come to be established (with horizons of risk, trajectories of progress and disaster); but also how those temporal worlds are also geographical, formed by connecting some places and some people (but not others) in these knotted geographies of space-time.
(More on time here.)
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace--business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.Plus ça change, indeed.
But what I was really struck by was Brooke Gladstone's discussion of time. She began with a reference to a film-making project prepared by Olmo Parenti in which the filmmakers asked Italians under self-quarantine to address themselves 10 days previous (coverage in The Atlantic and the YouTube video). She references an article published in Psychology Today (Marc Wittman, "Letter from Italy," March 18, 2020) with a set of reflections about time prepared by Massimo Agnoletti:
Research on the individual time perspective as conceptualized by Philip Zimbardo (Zimbardo & Boyd, 2008) and his research teams (Stolarski, Fieulaine & Van Beek, 2015) shows that the attitude towards personal time is absolutely crucial both at the individual level and for sociopolitical decisions, which have to be made by the governing bodies to decide and manage effective behaviors to prevent the virus from spreading.
In this period of uncertainty and stress, it is important to know that individuals, cultures, and institutions that are more fatalistic underestimate possible risk factors, as they are more focused on the hedonistic present and much less aware of the consequences of their individual and communal actions (think of the "corona parties" that have sprung up and have to be broken up by the police). For such individuals, highly restrictive policies may more effectively contain the virus compared to individuals who are more future-oriented and, thus, are more likely to behave more cautiously.On the one hand, there seems to be something right here - that one of the things that's playing out right now has to do with how different individuals engage with the temporality of the pandemic. For some, it's a 'well, this'll all be fine in two weeks, things will go back to normal.' And for others at the other end of the spectrum, there's a sense of dread not just about significant disruptions of the present but about the end of something far more lasting and expansive.
On the other hand, there seems to be something imprecise about the linkage between individual perceptions of time and this sort of culture-talk. (And my thanks to Ilaria for this reference!) [Oh, of course Italians are a certain way, because they're a fatalist Mediterranean culture, while the South Koreans are much more future-oriented.] Such discussions of culture tend to (a) assume that the 'nation' provides a relatively coherent map-container within which cultures exist; and (b) tend to ignore how cultures come to be produced in the first place.
So a better project would be exploring how exactly particular temporal frames come to be established (with horizons of risk, trajectories of progress and disaster); but also how those temporal worlds are also geographical, formed by connecting some places and some people (but not others) in these knotted geographies of space-time.
(More on time here.)
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