The past is behind, the future is ahead. Time passes, creeps, and sometimes flies, but always - forward. And if we "rewind" it back, then only in imagination, remembering the past and nostalgic … Isn't it? So, but not all. A similar picture of the perception of time is characteristic of modern European people. And although the reader may find it the most logical and obvious, there are others.
Did you know that the Amazonian Amondawa Indians have no concept of abstract time at all? For representatives of this tribe, recently discovered by scientists, time exists only in relation to the events that occur around. The sun regularly rises and sets over the horizon, and in order to build a canopy under which you can hang a hammock, you need labor and material. A man from the Amondava tribe does not understand what kind of time it is that exists by itself.
The Amondava do not use a calendar, which they simply do not have. In their language there is no concept of "month" or "year". They do not count the years they have lived and do not know their own age - but at different stages of their own lives they call themselves different names, denoting the periods of growing up or transition to another social status.
Some researchers believe that such a "timeless" existence of the amondava is explained by the poverty of their number system, which does not allow to keep track of time. However, according to eyewitnesses, when studying the Portuguese language, the Indians of this tribe quickly master the unusual concept of time. It turns out that the reason is somewhat deeper than simply the inability of hunting tribes to keep track of days and years.
Researcher Jean Ledloff lived for several years side by side with the Yequana Indians from Latin America. She described her experience and observations in the book How to Raise a Happy Child. The principle of continuity”, where she spoke about the traditions of raising children and the culture of this Indian tribe in general. Ledloff more than once noted that the Yequan had a completely different attitude to time and the events taking place in it than the Europeans. Being a "technically advanced" tribe, the Yequana for some reason did not have a water supply system, preferring to go down to the stream for water every time.
They made a difficult, even dangerous path downhill on a slippery and steep slope, and then with difficulty climbed back with full vessels of water. Jean notes that the Yequana were quite capable of guessing and laying a bamboo gutter from the stream, or at least equipping the descent with handrails. However, they stubbornly preferred the difficult path to the stream and back, not wanting to make their life easier. The surprised traveler began to look closely at these daily trips - and found that they represent some kind of ritual. Women, without haste, went downstairs, while each showed her grace and grace. Before collecting water and taking it to the village, they swam with their children (which mothers traditionally carry in their arms, doing their daily work), joke and talk. This ritual was a pleasant pastime - this is how the tribesmen socialized and rested from everyday worries.
Observing the life of the tribe, Ledloff found many more examples of irrational, from the point of view of our culture, use of time. Moreover, it must be said that such an attitude to time and business was beneficial to relations in the tribe: Ledloff noted that the Yequana were extremely friendly and cheerful, almost did not quarrel with each other. The scientist was often surprised at how easily they relate to what you and I would call "the hardships of life." With a group of other travelers, including Italians and local Indians, Ledloff sailed through the jungle in a canoe hollowed out by a piece of wood. From time to time the heavy boat had to be dragged aground. The ship often capsized, crushing one of them. One segment of the journey, according to Jean, was extremely difficult: “The boat was constantly out of balance,pushed the Kas into the crevices between the boulders, and we tore the shins and ankles in blood,”she recalls.
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But when the traveler drew attention to her companions, she noticed an amazing difference in the perception of the situation among the Indians and Europeans: “Several people seemed to be engaged in a common business - they were dragging the boat. But two of them were Italians, they were tense, gloomy, irritable; they constantly swore As befits a real Tuscan. The rest of the Indians seemed to have had a good time and even found it fun. They were relaxed, making fun of the clumsy canoe and their bruises, - writes Ledloff.
She notes how culturally determined perception of events played a role in this situation: in our culture, hard work is considered an occasion for grief, annoyance and discontent with what is happening. The Indians, on the other hand, had no idea that grueling work was bad and that it spoiled the mood. They perceived this difficult part of the journey as an ordinary episode from their lives. As the researcher later explained, the Indians generally did not single out work as some kind of special activity, different, for example, from rest or socializing.
It is not surprising if, with such a perception of reality, the Indians simply do not have the need to count time and do not single out it as an abstract category at all.
In Quechua, the language of the tribal group that in ancient times created the state that we know as the Inca Empire, time existed, but was inseparable from space: both concepts were denoted by the same word "pacha". Moreover, Quechua did not distinguish between the past and the future: in their opinion, there were only two types of time-space: the one that is here and now, and the one that is “not now” (and not here). Such a past-future in the Quechua language was called "navya-pacha".
By the way, in this sense, this language is not unique. In some languages of ancient India, including Hindi, yesterday and tomorrow are designated by the same word "kal" ("kal"). By the verb next to it, you can understand whether we are talking about the past or future tense.
The "disposition" of the past and the future, which is habitual for us: what has already passed is behind the back, the future is ahead, is also neo-vivid. Some Amazonian tribes perceive the future as something behind the back (after all, we do not yet know what it is), but the past, in their opinion, is in front of the face: we have already seen and know, we can imagine.
For peoples - speakers of these languages, time exists, but it is not linear, but cyclical. That, we note, is quite natural for people living in nature: the sunrises and sunsets, the change of seasons, the cycles of death and birth of new generations have formed their perception of the passage of time as a cycle.
The Germanic peoples used the word "teed" to designate time, which meant sea tide. Yer ", from which the word" year "comes (in English - year, in German - Jahr), meant" annual harvest ", and also emphasized the recurrence of time cycles.
With the advent of Christian culture, the linguistic concept of cyclicality was replaced by the idea of linearity of time. Christians also considered time to be finite: they were waiting for the Day of Judgment and the end of the world that preceded it - and hence the time. In the era of scientific and technological progress, new, natural-scientific thinking "pushed back" this border, making time practically infinite (in theory, of course, because it is not possible to prove infinity in practice).
It can be assumed that throughout history humanity has "absorbed" all these ideas about time, assimilating new ones, but not completely forgetting the previous ones.
Psychologists distinguish two types of subjective perception of time among people in modern Western culture - instantaneous and linear time. "Instantaneous time" is the perception of an immediate moment, something like how the representatives of the Indian tribes mentioned in the article perceive time. This is how children perceive time, since it is filled with events for them, and is practically not planned (their time can be planned by parents, but the child, not having such a thinking so far, does not know what should happen tomorrow and what - in a year). Therefore, almost every one of us can remember that in childhood time drags on slowly, and with age it seems to "accelerate".
As we grow up, we learn socially accepted "linear" time planning. Schoolchildren get used to the fact that there are seven days in a week, and during five of them they need to be at school at the appointed time, that each lesson lasts 45 minutes, and their sequence (that is, the school schedule) is known in advance. Almost immediately, they assimilate the idea that in ten years they will go to college, and after fifteen or sixteen they will finish it and begin building a career. Their lives seem to be projected onto the time line. But the events that are taking place at the moment sometimes capture a person so much that he forgets about the linear perception of time, returning to the "instantaneous". (An extreme case of such a state is to get so carried away by the current business,that being late for a meeting or forgetting a promise made to someone just illustrates a return to “instantaneous” time, in which there are no plans and no predetermined events).
The best illustration of the fact that the cyclical perception of time has been preserved in our minds is, of course, the tradition of celebrating the arrival of the new year and our birthday, as well as the importance we attach to the changing seasons. “So spring (summer, winter, autumn) has come,” we note, looking out the window. And, no matter how hackneyed this topic is, for some reason it always evokes a response from any interlocutor. Even those who, besides the weather, have something to talk about. And the New Year and our own Birthday (which, in fact, is the personal New Year of each of us) is usually celebrated as something solemn - regardless of how successful and pleasant we consider the past year (whether personal or calendar). The main merit of these holidays is their recurrence, the fact that they come regardless of anything,are repeated at regular intervals. We borrowed this habit from our pagan ancestors, who thanked the gods and spirits for each change of the season (hoping, however, that the next one would be successful - as we wish each other “happiness in the New Year”).
It turns out that the modern European's perception of time is a kind of "layer cake" of different methods, assimilated during the cultural development of mankind. Which is not bad at all: a variety of behaviors and perceptions always increase adaptability. In addition, knowing that time can be perceived and treated in different ways allows you to choose the way that suits you personally. What if you are an Amondava Indian at heart?
YANA SAVELIEVA