RECOMMENDED READING: Cultural perceptions of time aren’t all straightforward

Nick Kenyon

Here at Time+Tide, we write a lot about watches. What we don’t write about as much is what the watches are actually communicating to us — time. And while time seems fairly straightforward (or is it straightbackward?) as a concept, cultural perceptions of time are highly variable, with these differences impacting language, writing and commercial activity of different people around the world.

Cultural view of time - Cultural perceptions of time — Time is far from straightforward. Image: scientificamerican.com

In Australia, it’s common to talk about the past being behind us, with the future in front of us. But some people see the past as downhill and the future uphill, with others thinking about the past as being in the East with the future being in the West. So if you’re feeling like the weekend is almost done and you don’t have enough time left, have a read of this interesting article on why you do have time; you’re just thinking about it wrong.