Does time extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? A multitask crosscultural study

Does temporal thought extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? Do asymmetries depend on cultural differences in temporal focus? Some studies suggest that people in Western (arguably future-focused) cultures perceive the future as being closer, more valued, and deeper than the past (a future asymmetry), while the opposite is shown in East Asian (arguably past-focused) cultures. The proposed explanations of these findings predict a negative relationship between past and future: the more we delve into the future, the less we delve into the past. Here, we report findings that pose a significant challenge to this view. We presented several tasks previously used to measure temporal asymmetry (self-continuity, time discounting, temporal distance, and temporal depth) and two measures of temporal focus to American, Spanish, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese participants (total N = 1,075). There was an overall future asymmetry in all tasks except for temporal distance, but the asymmetry only varied with cultural temporal focus in time discounting. Past and future held a positive (instead of negative) relation in the mind: the more we delve into the future, the more we delve into the past. Finally, the findings suggest that temporal thought has a complex underlying structure

Time conceptualization across cultures and religions

In the present doctoral dissertation we examined, through six empirical studies, how people from different cultures (American, Spanish, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese) and religions or religious attitudes (mainly Christian, Muslim, and non-believers) think about time. In particular, we studied the role of temporal focus (i.e., attention paid to the past versus the future) and religiosity —factors that vary cross-culturally— on five dimensions of temporal thought: where we place the past and future, whether in front or behind (spatialization); the distance we perceive to past and future events; the similarity of our current self to our past- and future- self (selfcontinuity); the economic valuation of past and future events (discounting); and how far we place the horizon when contemplating the past and future (depth).En la presente tesis doctoral examinamos, a través de seis estudios empíricos, cómo las personas de diferentes culturas (estadounidenses, españoles, serbios, bosniacos, croatas, marroquíes, turcos y chinos) y religiones o actitudes religiosas (principalmente cristianos, musulmanes, agnósticos y ateos) piensan sobre el tiempo. En particular, estudiamos el rol del foco temporal (es decir, la atención prestada al pasado y al futuro) y la religiosidad — factores que varían interculturalmente— sobre cinco dimensiones del pensamiento temporal: dónde situamos el pasado y el futuro, si delante o detrás (espacialización); la distancia que percibimos hacia eventos pasados y futuros; la similaridad de nuestro yo actual con el yo pasado y futuro (auto-continuidad); la valoración económica de eventos pasados y futuros (descuento); y cuán lejos situamos el horizonte al contemplar el pasado y el futuro (profundidad).Tesis Univ. Granada

GUTIÉRREZ LOMBARDO, Raúl y SANMARTÍN ESPLUGUES, José (Eds.) (2014): La filosofía desde la ciencia. México: Centro de Estudios Filosóficos, Políticos y Sociales Vicente Lombardo Toledano

Reseña sobre la obra: GUTIÉRREZ LOMBARDO, Raúl y SANMARTÍN ESPLUGUES, José (Eds.) (2014): La filosofía desde la ciencia. México D. F.: Centro de Estudios Filosóficos, Políticos y Sociales Vicente Lombardo Toledano. Este volumen tiene su origen en un conjunto de ponencias que se desarrollaron en el Coloquio “La Filosofía desde la Ciencia”, celebrado el día 5 de noviembre de 2013 en la sede del Centro de Estudios Vicente Lombardo Toledano, en la Ciudad de México. Este Coloquio se llevó a cabo como homenaje a Carlos Castrodeza Bermúdez, un gran filósofo español de la biología. En una figura como la suya se puede inspirar el afán, tanto de los editores como de ciertos autores, por establecer puentes que den sentido a la relación entre la filosofía y las ciencias. La obra, sin embargo, no se limita a la difusión de tales ponencias (ni todos los capítulos son ponencias, ni aparecen publicadas todas las ponencias), sino que constituye un volumen de contribuciones sobre la relación entre ciencia y filosofía

Horizontes de la imaginación creadora

Instigados por el insaciable afán de conocer a Dios y dar sentido a la existencia vamos deambulando entre experiencias de búsqueda de conocimiento. En este cometido, mientras la razón se debate entre la imposición y la abdicación, Ibn ʿArabī muestra cómo tal conocimiento puede realizarse en el corazón, al cual se puede ser guiado a través de los horizontes que la Imaginación creadora ha iluminado y descubierto. Este texto trata de adentrarse en la posibilidad imaginal -y real- de tales horizontes [...

Deus ex Machina: The Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Young Adults’ Religiosity, Temporal Values, and Time Spatialization across Cultures

We investigated the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s value temporal focus, religiosity, and time spatialization. Samples of young participants from eight cultures (Americans, Spaniards, Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats, Moroccans, Turks, and Chinese) collected before the pandemic (N = 497, mean age = 21.09) were matched with samples collected during the first confinement period (N = 497, mean age = 20.96). Our results in study 1 showed that during the pandemic, young adults were less religious, more future-focused, and placed the future in front to of them in a greater extent. In study 2, using the whole sample collected during the pandemic (N = 893, mean age = 21.94), we observed that the more affected the participants were by the pandemic, the greater their future focus, the lower their religiosity, and the greater their tendency to locate the future in front. These pattern of results held in most cultures

Does time extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? A multitask crosscultural study

Does temporal thought extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? Do asymmetries depend on cultural differences in temporal focus? Some studies suggest that people in Western (arguably future-focused) cultures perceive the future as being closer, more valued, and deeper than the past (a future asymmetry), while the opposite is shown in East Asian (arguably past-focused) cultures. The proposed explanations of these findings predict a negative relationship between past and future: the more we delve into the future, the less we delve into the past. Here, we report findings that pose a significant challenge to this view. We presented several tasks previously used to measure temporal asymmetry (self-continuity, time discounting, temporal distance, and temporal depth) and two measures of temporal focus to American, Spanish, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese participants (total N = 1,075). There was an overall future asymmetry in all tasks except for temporal distance, but the asymmetry only varied with cultural temporal focus in time discounting. Past and future held a positive (instead of negative) relation in the mind: the more we delve into the future, the more we delve into the past. Finally, the findings suggest that temporal thought has a complex underlying structure

Does time extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? A multitask crosscultural study

Does temporal thought extend asymmetrically into the past and the future? Do asymmetries depend on cultural differences in temporal focus? Some studies suggest that people in Western (arguably future-focused) cultures perceive the future as being closer, more valued, and deeper than the past (a future asymmetry), while the opposite is shown in East Asian (arguably past-focused) cultures. The proposed explanations of these findings predict a negative relationship between past and future: the more we delve into the future, the less we delve into the past. Here, we report findings that pose a significant challenge to this view. We presented several tasks previously used to measure temporal asymmetry (self-continuity, time discounting, temporal distance, and temporal depth) and two measures of temporal focus to American, Spanish, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese participants (total N = 1,075). There was an overall future asymmetry in all tasks except for temporal distance, but the asymmetry only varied with cultural temporal focus in time discounting. Past and future held a positive (instead of negative) relation in the mind: the more we delve into the future, the more we delve into the past. Finally, the findings suggest that temporal thought has a complex underlying structure