A. A feature of the natural world.

B. Time happens to us.

C. Isaac Newton referred to "absolute time" as an objective frame of reference in which all events happen.

II. Philosophers have moved away from this conception of time.

A. If time is "objective" where is it?

B. Kant showed time to be a synthetic category of consciousness: a way of organizing experience.

C. Many philosophers and social scientists now talk about "lived time" to designate the various ways that people experience the passage of time.

D. Chronemics: the study of temporal communication, including the way people organize and react to time.

A. Cultural time: the way social groups and societies organize time.

1. Technical time: the precise forms of time associated with scientific inquiry.

2. Formal time: the institutionalized division of time into units.

3. Informal time: the loose organization of time associated with phrases like "soon," "right away."

B. Diffused and displaced time orientations

1. Societies with displaced time orientations view time very precisely.

2. Those with diffused time orientations view time approximately.

C. Monochronism and Polychronism.

1. Monochronic individuals and cultures tend to schedule things one at a time.

2. Polychronic individuals and culture engage in multiple activities at the same time.

3. P & M time is related to different attitudes toward interpersonal relationships.

D. Time tracks and the social clock.

1. Societies and groups have tacit and explicit schedules for doing a variety of tasks.

a. These "time tracks" define the rhythm and tempo of life.

b. have norms of pace and sequence

c. often have initiating and terminating rituals.

2. Sidetracking: it is possible to pause within or move among time tracks

a. waiting: cyclical or linear intermissions in a time track until something occurs.

b. timeout: a period when the roles and rules of a time track are relaxed or revoked.

c. withdrawal: acts of persons or groups who voluntarily retire from the time tracks they are traversing.

A. Time is an important component of the performance of social roles.

1. Taken as an index of mental capacity: people are "slow" or "quick"

2. Closely associated with status and class.

3. Related in many ways to the performance of gender roles.

B. Time also provides a framework for conceptualizing one's identity and place in the world.

1. People have differing "temporal horizons" that frame the kinds of activities and plans they can imagine.

a. present, past, and future orientations.