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In this engaging and humorous book, eminent social psychologist Robert Levine explores a dimension of our experience that we take for granted - our experience of time. Taking us on an enchanting tour through the ages and around the world, we travel to Brazil, where to be three hours late is perfectly acceptable, and to Japan, where he finds a sense of the long-term that is unheard of in the West, as well as to remote places in the world where 'nature time', the rhythms of the sun and the seasons, is the only time to live by. From sundials of ancient Greece to the origins of 'clock time' in the industrial Revolution, Levine asks, how do we use our time? Are we ruled by the clock? What does this do to our cities, our bodies? Perhaps, he argues, time as a human construct has come to definite and constrain cultures, while instead we ought to function 'multitemporally,' each of us charting our own geography of time
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ACCLAIM FOR A Geography of Time “An elegant gem … Levine takes us behind the lens of the sensitive observer’s eye to make us aware of the psychology of time as perhaps the greatest of human inventions. He combines brilliant observations, original field experiments, and wide-ranging scholarship to generate an original view of how subjective time and human functioning mesh or collide. A Geography of Time is a worthwhile detour: take it and value its lessons well.” — Philip Zimbardo, author of Psychology and Life “What a timely book! An empirically trained social psychologist casts an informed eye across the cross-cultural literature on how people in various parts of the globe structure their 24 hours each day. The ‘silent language’ of time is articulated in this pacey, humorous assessment of how this basic dimension of our lives affects us all. Scholarly but fun, informative but colorful. Take time to read this book.” — Michael Harris Bond, Chinese University of Hong Kong “Our treatment of time turns out to be a masterful key that opens a fantastic array of doors into numerous intellectual, social, cultural, and many other-worldly areas.” — Amitai Etzioni, author of The New Golden Rule “Anyone who picks up this book believing that time is simply something that is measured by that little gadget on your wrist is in for a major revelation and a mind-expanding experience (as well as a good ‘time.’) Levine is to be congratulated; truly, an excellent piece of work.” — Elliott Aronson, University of California at Santa Cruz “Unique, wry, and readable, this well-documented book is recommended for social psychology collections and public libraries for sophisticated readers with the time to spare.” — Library Journal “Levine shows with grace, wit, and scholarship how culture-bound our sense of time really is. A Geography of Time has altered (for the better) my own attitude toward time. This book should make a major contribution to breaking the shackles of time pressure that bind us all.” — Ralph Keyes, author of Timelock “Packed with interesting observations and information.” — Anthony Storr, Washington Times ABOUT THE AUTHOR Robert Levine, Ph.D., is former Associate Dean, College of Science and Mathematics, and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fresno, where he has received many awards for his teaching and research. He has been a visiting professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niteroi, Brazil, at Sapporo Medical University in Japan, and at Stockholm University in Sweden. He has published articles in Psychology Today, Discover, The New York Times, and American Scientist, and has appeared on ABC’s World News Tonight, Dateline, NBC, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and All Things Considered. He is also the editor, with Aroldo Rodrigues, of Reflections On 100 Years Of Experimental Social Psychology. His latest book, The Power of Persuasion, is also published by Oneworld. A GEOGRAPHY