Time and Change in the Development of the Individual and Society

Abstract

Publisher Summary Time in the natural sciences has an absolute zero point, which is arbitrarily determined by the initiation of a particular process, for instance by the activation of a watch. Absolute zero points are not given by “nature” but are delineated through the development of scientific theories and techniques. When considering psychological and social processes, zero points in time are always arbitrarily defined. By defining its units, the periodicity of time represents the basis for time measurements. These units could be the solar year, the lunar month, or the terrestrial day. Practical measurements rely on the isomorphism between these astronomical units and those more directly accessible for the manipulations, such as the swing of the pendulum or the vibration in quartz molecules. This chapter examines how time units of psychological and sociological processes might be defined.