Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
In this engaging and spirited book, eminent social psychologist Robert Levine asks us to explore a dimension of our experience that we take for granted - our perception of time. When we travel to a different country, or even a different city in the United States, we assume that a certain amount of cultural adjustment will be required, whether it's getting used to new food or negotiating a foreign language, adapting to a different standard of living or another currency.
In fact, what contributes most to our sense of disorientation is having to adapt to another culture's sense of time.
Levine, who has devoted his career to studying time and the pace of life, takes us on an enchanting tour of time through the ages and around the world. As he recounts his unique experiences with humor and deep insight, we travel with him to Brazil, where to be three hours late is perfectly acceptable, and to Japan, where he finds a sense of the long-term that is unheard of in the West.
We visit communities in the United States and find that population size affects the pace of life - and even the pace of walking. We travel back in time to ancient Greece to examine early clocks and sundials, then move forward through the centuries to the beginnings of "clock time" during the Industrial Revolution.
Levine raises some fascinating questions. How do we use our time? Are we being ruled by the clock? What is this doing to our cities? To our relationships? To our own bodies and psyches? Are there decisions we have made without conscious choice? Alternative tempos we might prefer? Perhaps, Levine argues, our goal should be to try to live in a "multitemporal" society, one in which we learn to move back and forth among nature time, event time, and clock time.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
Showing 1 featured edition. View all 1 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1
A geography of time: the temporal misadventures of a social psychologist, or how every culture keeps time just a little bit differently
1997, BasicBooks
in English
- 1st ed.
0465028926 9780465028924
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-245) and index.
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?August 7, 2024 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
February 14, 2020 | Edited by MARC Bot | remove fake subjects |
June 30, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
January 25, 2012 | Edited by EdwardBot | add books to in library lending |
December 10, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |