WHAT ARE THE CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF TIME?
i can speak for myself, i came from Brazil, and the time in each day there, feels longer then here, i remember having time for work, for family, friends and some fun for myself, when i moved to US, since then the time just go so fast, is like you need to choose what you will do for each day, because you will not have time for all of them, culturally, Brazil (or certain regions in Brazil) they don't try to "win" the clock they just accepted and forgot the time itself, so you will be able to enjoy your life not based on the time you have but based on the present, now, maybe sometimes you will pay for that, but brazilians still like to live day by day.In USA is different, we " run to win against the clock", we do not have time to do things that is not "important" (but it is!), resulting in missed friends, missed family, we go apart, we leave always, and time for ourselves, that is almost impossible, i think Capitalism change the way we live our lives, damaging us putting the time against us.
What you said in class about time feeling longer in Brazil than here has really stuck with me this week, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the ‘speediness’ of life here. The concept of running to “win against the clock” - I often feel the pressure of it acutely, but without an extended experience of something else, it is difficult to conceive of things being different. Here it seems like we are always trying to get somewhere else - whether it be literally somewhere else or through accomplishing something or acquiring something - and/or trying to escape from one’s reality. Hearing and reading your reflections on the culture here versus living where daily life is about life and the present has let me see my own circumstances more clearly. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Amy, i share this though with my heart, who knows, we started here and we share all over , a wake up call, to live today intensively, and we worry about tomorrow when it comes! Hard right?
DeleteEdi
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the United States we often have to choose one single thing everyday that we want to do. In the United States we live in a Monochronic culture where we only focus our attention on one event at a time. Time is considered valuable in the United States and people must follow a strict schedule. In most of Latin America it is polychronic culture where it is acceptable to have many events going on at one time. In a polychronic culture a schedule is not as important as interpersonal relations. Does anyone else have an opinion on this topic?