Multi-scalar cognitive time: Experiential time, known time, and Maya calendars

Abstract

From a cognitive perspective there are two different “regions” of time. These are experiential time and known time. Each one has multiple temporal scales and both are mutually irreducible. These different scales of time are needed to coordinate phenomena in regions of various magnitudes (molecules, cells, organisms, social groups, etc.). Experiential time is perceived to be continuous by our senses but there is a limit to this temporal reproduction. Durations longer than a minute need external devices to be known.The Maya calendars manifest known time and they were and still are designed to order the days, i.e. the passing of time. The calendars have been created from cognitive interaction with digits, aging, pregnancy, vegetative cycles, the sun and phases of the moon, the hydrological cycle, i.e. from objects and the events they generated. Once established these calendars have also affected the way time has been perceived individually and collectively.With the collapse of the institution of divine kingship during the 9–11th centuries AD, the accumulative time of the Long Count disappeared in favor of the cyclical Short Count. This change implies not just sociopolitical changes but also cognitive changes. Knowledge of earlier history and engagement with ruins and artefacts enforced an understanding of previous creations and their associations with repeated periods of time.