h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Position of the sun (sundials), stars (astrolabe), water clocks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_clock#Greco-Roman_world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundials#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrolabe

It was me.
I posted over three dozen variations of 'take'
from take charge to take a chance to take off.

As a list in a single posting they would have
been overwhelming. I was having a brainstorm of
hurricane proportions and an incredible number
of linguistic pretzels were flooding into my head.

It seemed every time I went to post I thought of
another one, or another whole set, like Take Up
(sewing, reading, sports, religion) and Take Down
(criminals, govts, xmas decorations); or Take over,
take cover, take comfort, take control.

It seemed best not to lump them all into a single post.


~jwf~

It must have been like that fella who wrote that Kubla Khan thingy, a stream of inspired consciousness. Then that that other fella knocked on the door and the rest is history. Well, you had me worried though, thought you might have been slumped over the keyboard ... good to hear you're okay

It all began with someone asking about the expression
'take time'; to which someone appended 'take a break'
and I was soon considering the whole aspect of 'take'
in the sense of taking time.

Why do we take time?
How do we take time?

I expect most would think taking time meant to do
something with diligence and care. We take 'the time'
to do something right.

And yet if someone says 'take your time' the suggestion
is that time and care are not essential and we can 'take
as long as we want'.

'Our time' is different from 'the time'. But both are taken.

Take a break suggests a change of timing, or at least
a change of pace. If we sit and think or do a bit of
reading and studying then we might take a break to do
some physical activity, to speed up a bit; but if we are
engaged in some physical activity we might take a break
to rest and slow down.

This begs the question of a general overuse of the word take.
And from there I went on discover three dozen variations
of its meaning - many of which retain some semblance of
temporal notions and perceptions.

A very stimulating thread!

~jwf~

It's the same sort of people responsible for colonialism. Now they are merchant bankers, agro - marketers, petrochemicals, rin tin zinc miners, tree loggers etc. Globalisation is the new colonialism, and having colonised the land and the resources they are colonising our minds and our ... time (efficiency drives, quality time etc) .

You are forgiven, jwf, but please rein in your brainstorms in the future. Easier said than done, I know, but the rest of us might have things to post, too.

Stone Aart makes a good point about the colonialization of our minds regarding time. Principled nonconformism is one of the few barriers against this trend. I would love to hear examples of instances in which researchers have treated life as more than a collection of minutes that have to have the last drop of productivity wrung from them. Stop and smell the roses? I find myself stopping to smell the pansies that have been placed out in front of people's houses and along public sidewalks. It's a been a long,. fragrance-free winter, and now we are in the season when the air is full of wonderful odors.

Oh, absolutely. I'm a great believer in the benefits of constructive idleness.

How long is a life time?
I need to know because I found this titbit
on the weather network and they were, as
usual, not very specific on details.
In what I can only believe is one their best
guesses they claim: "Experts estimate that
in a lifetime, a human brain may retain one
quadrillion separate bits of information."

Stir well and simmer for 2o minutes.

~jwf~

How long is a life time (or a lifetime, even )

After some observation, I'll put my guess at a week and a half short of a full life