Would we be better off without measuring time?

Question

its like we're always in a rush, would it be better not knowing about time?

Answer 1

i really think this is a fantastic idea! i feel like i am always in a rush. always busy, all the time. If we didn't have time, we would just have a sequence of events, but they could just happen at their own pace and we wouldn't have to worry about being on time, running out of time, etc. Everything is measured, the whole world; everything we do. i wish it were simpler...

Answer 2

There are two ways of looking at this...firstly people are always too busy, always looking at the clock. Without time I expect our lives would be less stressful.

On the other hand without time what would happen? How would we arrange to meet anyone? We would spend endless hours waiting for people as we could not set an exact time to meet. Our lives would become terribly disorganised and out of control. Nothing would be achieved and I imagine everything would end up delayed.

The idea of a world not measuring time is great but then again....what would happen without it?

Answer 3

Answerer17 confirmed it.Yes,we would be better off if we did NOT measure time.There is too much emphasis on it.I mean,look at daylight saving's time.I HATE it.It's still the same time as it was before it started.There was a time and place where people made plans to meet when the sun was at a certain place in the sky.That allowed for a little give in either direction,so no one was really stressing about being late or early.You got there when you got there and everything was just fine.I wish it were so.I wish,I wish,I wish...

Answer 4

The problem is not in the measurement. The problem is in the idea that time is a real material created by the illusion that we are measuring it. When relativity predictions of the changes in measured time were done at different altitudes and in space at different speeds it was found that time actually was relative, and it distorted under different conditions. Time is not solid but is a more fluid property of a space /time continuum. The idea of time as a commodity as expressed in the saying that 'time is money' is just wrong and is an artifact of our sloppy language.

Answer 5

It is not possible not to be aware of time because the sun rises and sets regularly almost all over the world.
Even before the measuring instruments people were conscious of time and watched the progress by movement of shade or stars
they were experts in measuring time

Answer 6

Actually I think we need time, or we would have no concept
of when to get to certain places or certain things. Time helps
us manage our lives. Without it, we can spend too much time
on things that aren't really important, or spend too little time on
things that require more of it. Our lives revolve around time,
from school to work to home to entertainment, to even ordering
or delivering pizzas. It has to be there within a certain amount
of time, or there is no charge. Think about how traffic lights work.
Without it, people who are waiting in their vehicles could wait in
their cars endlessly against the flow of traffic. I think we would
we be worse off without knowing the time than better off if you
think about the consequences.

Answer 7

Yes it would, the world hardly has time to do anything.
People would find if they just sat back and took it day by day, life would become less stressful.
"The faster you travel the quicker death comes."

Answer 8

Yes, indeed, because in any case we hardly have any time to measure.

Answer 9

unfortunately - no. Time insures timeliness. In a fight for life time is everything not to mention that time really is money.

Answer 10

I think it's important to remember that as human beings we measure time in two ways, 1. metaphysically as "clock time" and 2. as the temporality which we ourselves ARE. 1st, metaphysical or clock time is simply the measurement of change. Time here is understood as simply a "sequence of nows" past-present- future. This time is "clock time" since a clock is that which measures time. This time I assume you are refering to. But there is also another 'kind of time' which philosopher's refer to as "Temporality." This is the fact that as human beings we are always "in time," think in terms of time, and have our very BEING , not only in time, but AS time. Our very Being is Time. What do I mean by this? Well (this is straight out of Being and Time by Martin Heidegger) the Human Being is the only being (among other beings) whose very Being is at "issue for it." That is, We have our Being "to -be." Our essence is our ek-sistence, our essence lies in our to-be, or as Sarte says, our existence precedes our essence. We have our being to-be and thus our being is to be "worked out." But how do we work out our being? By taking up existential possibilities. That is, we are always running-ahead to the future and future possibilities; insofar as we are human we are always thinking in terms of the future, insofar as we are thinking of "how to be." But this also includes the past and the present, for we never run-ahead to the future without "already having been" in the past. Thus we run-ahead as already-having-been. But we are also alongside others and other things in-the-world. We are therefore running-ahead-already-having-been-alongside-beings. This is what is known as the temporal ek-stasis (standing out) of man (as Da-sein), which shows that man's very being IS Time.. Our being is time insofar as our being is bound up with time and only can-be within time.
Thus, Can we ever exist without measuring time? Yes...we can! we can perhaps exist without metaphysical "clock time," but we can never exist without "knowing about time," for we ourselves ARE time.