Philosophy of mental time — A theme introduction

(First paragraphs.) — The notion of “mental time” refers to the experience and awareness of time, including that of past, present, and future, and that of the passing of time. This experience and awareness of time raises a number of puzzling questions. How do we experience time? What exactly do we experience when we experience time? Do we actually experience time? Or do we infer time from something in, or some aspect of our experience? And so forth. These and many related questions in the “philosophy of mental time”, the topic of this special issue of the Annals of the Japan Association for Philosophy of Science, are not purely philosophical questions. Or at least, they are not likely to be satisfactorily answered by philosophers alone. Rather, they also need the input of neuroscientists, psychologists, physicists, linguists, and others. And conversely, answers to these questions may have implications outside the scope of philosophy. The papers in this special issue illustrate this inherent multi- or interdisciplinarity of the philosophy and science of mental time. In this theme introduction, we want to give a few more examples to illustrate this interdisciplinarity, but also to point out that much of the field is still wide open—that is, these illustrations raise more questions than answers

Experience and the passage of time

Some philosophers believe that the passage of time is a real phenomenon. And some of them find a reason to believe this when they attend to features of their conscious experience. In fact this “argument from experience” is supposed to be one of the main arguments for passage. What exactly does this argument look like? Is it any good? There are in fact many different arguments from experience. I am not sure I understand them all. In this paper I want to talk about the three most interesting arguments that I do understand. I am going to argue that all three of them fail

Space-Time Intervals Underlie Human Conscious Experience, Gravity, and a Theory of Everything

Space-time intervals are the fundamental components of conscious experience, gravity, and a Theory of Everything. Space-time intervals are relationships that arise naturally between events. They have a general covariance (independence of coordinate systems, scale invariance), a physical constancy, that encompasses all frames of reference. There are three basic types of space-time intervals (light-like, time-like, space-like) which interact to create space-time and its properties. Human conscious experience is a four-dimensional space-time continuum created through the processing of space-time intervals by the brain; space-time intervals are the source of conscious experience (observed physical reality). Human conscious experience is modeled by Einstein’s special theory of relativity, a theory designed specifically from the general covariance of space-time intervals (for inertial frames of reference). General relativity is our most accurate description of gravity. In general relativity, the general covariance of space-time intervals is extended to all frames of reference (inertial and non-inertial), including gravitational reference frames; space-time intervals are the source of gravity in general relativity. The general covariance of space-time intervals is further extended to quantum mechanics; space-time intervals are the source of quantum gravity. The general covariance of space-time intervals seamlessly merges general relativity with quantum field theory (the two grand theories of the universe). Space-time intervals consequently are the basis of a Theory of Everything (a single all-encompassing coherent theoretical framework of physics that fully explains and links together all physical aspects of the universe). This theoretical framework encompasses our observed physical reality (conscious experience) as well; space-time intervals link observed physical reality to actual physical reality. This provides an accurate and reliable match between observed physical reality and the physical universe by which we can carry on our activity. The Minkowski metric, which defines generally covariant space-time intervals, may be considered an axiom (premise, postulate) for the Theory of Everything

FAVORing the part-time language teacher: the experience and impact of sharing open educational resources through a community-based repository

The resourcefulness of part-time language teachers is often overlooked,despite the large numbers of such staff teaching in language departments across higher education. Part-time teachers typically juggle life work commitments and experience far fewer opportunities for professional development than their full-time colleagues. They frequently work in relative isolation, yet carry out their teaching duties enthusiastically and conscientiously, striving to provide as rich a learning experience as possible for their students, often spending a considerable amount of time in lesson and resource preparation. The aim of the JISC-funded FAVOR (Find a Voice through Open Resources) Project was to bring more part-time teachers into the open content movement, drawing on their wealth of resourcefulness and offering them something back for all their, often unrecognised, hard work. This case study will describe one participating institution’s experience on the FAVOR Project, including an initial investigation into its impact on the post project practices of part-time teachers. It will draw on a range of qualitative data gathered from individual and group meetings, teacher interviews, and reflective notes made by the institutional coordinator to present a picture of the experience from the part-time teachers’ perspectiv

Presentism and Temporal Experience

Abstract- Presentism And Temporal Experience Intuitively, we all believe that we experience change and the passage of time. Presentism prides itself as the most intuitive theory of time. However, a closer look at how we would experience temporality if presentism was true reveals that this is far from obvious. For if presentism was really so intuitive, then it would do justice to these intuitions. In the course of this article I examine how presentism fares when combined with various leading theories of perception and temporal perception. I focused on two Central Questions. Can presentism, given theory X, account for experiences of change and duration? And can presentism, given theory X, account for experiences of time as passing? I argue that there is no possible combination which allows for an experience of time as passing. This result alone undermines the alleged intuitive advantage of presentism and with it the motivation for the view. Presentism, it remains safe to say, is not as intuitive a theory as its adherents like to portray it

Boethius and the Block Universe: Physical and Metaphysical Considerations of Time

In this exploration of the nature of time, the author shows that more than a superficial belief in a creator God invites the person of faith to engage with some of the unsettling questions presented by modern physics and cosmology. He considers how human beings study and measure time, and he also treats how we experience time as creatures \"caught\" in its passage, and the emotions evoked by that experience. The various possible paths of the future of the universe are provocative subjects for theological treatment

The coming community: The singular time of the subject

We observe that the ideas of community and time in Agamben are strongly linked. At the moment of thinking the community we consider inevitable its interaction with the idea of time, in fact we see that such a correspondence is implicit in the thought of community. Nevertheless it is necessary to demonstrate the nucleus of this correlation, given that it is not possible to talk about the community without referring to the time of the subject. The subject is who does experiment the time and who is able to perceive the own time and to assume it, and for whom to self recognize into the time is possible at well as to experiment (it), to occupy (it) and to live (it) in common is. In the present analysis we will see that the time, as a place for the experience, is itself in the community. In fact, it becomes evident that the community is continuously disclosing1 within the time in which it is. Moreover, the community produces an idea of time that neither is related to a destiny nor is linked with an eventual delimitated future. In this context the time is not only a subjective condition of the subject but it deals with a practice both subjective and intersubjective. Because, at the moment of the time experience, simultaneously occurs that the subject appropriates and communicates it. By this way the community be-comes in the experience of the subject and belongs to the now time of the occurring, where the singular be being and the common future are conjugated.Fil: Campero, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

Effects of Stock Type and Planter Experience on the Time Required to Plant Loblolly Pine Seddlings

Inexperienced workers planted container-grown and bare-root seedlings of loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) on a rocky, upland site near Batesville, AR in a comparison of planting speed and survivability. Planting speed depended on the type of seedling planted and the amount of planting experience. Significantly less time was required to plant an acre with container-grown than bare-root seedlings. Experience increased the consistency and speed of planting for both seedling types

Changing time and emotions

In this paper, we consider that our experience of time (to come) depends on the emotions we feel when we imagine future pleasant or unpleasant events. A positive emotion such as relief or joy associated with a pleasant event that will happen in the future induces impatience. Impatience, in our context, implies that the experience of time up to the forthcoming event expands. A negative emotion such as grief or frustration associatedwith an unpleasant event thatwill happen in the future triggers anxiety. This will give the experience of time contraction. Time, therefore, is not exogeneously given to the individual and emotions, which link together events or situations, are a constitutive ingredient of time experience. Our theory can explain experimental evidence which shows that people tend to prefer to perform painful actions earlier than pleasurable ones, contrary to the predictions yielded by the standard exponential discounting framework.experience of time ; emotions ; impatience ; anxiety ; discount factor ; time preference

Repeat and first time visitation in an experience specific context: The Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk.

Communication with the public is a primary consideration in the design of natural area tourist attractions (Manfredo & Bright,1991; Roggenbuck, 1992; Vogt & Stewart, 1998). In a management context, communication is essential in ensuring a relevant and enjoyable experience on the part of the visiting tourists (Magill, 1995). Communication also serves as an important management aid in reminding visitors of appropriate behaviour while ensuring continued visitor interest in the attraction (Moscardo, 1998; Moscardo & Woods,2001). This paper presents the results of a .survey examining motivations and attitudes of repeat and first time visitors to the Tree Top Walk site in the context of the communication strategy used at the site