Distinct from clocks, time zones and official measurements, everybody has their own 'personal' sense of time. This goes more quickly when we're completely absorbed in an activity (reading a great book, trying our best in an exam) and more slowly when we're wishing an activity was over (homework, a boring bus journey)/ Try to record your personal time today. Do some activites = some fun, some dull. Decide how long they took in 'personal' time, then look at a clock or watch to find out how long the took in actual time. You'll find the two differ quite a bit. This explains why a world in which everyone ran around without an agreed official time would be utter chaos. For a start, no one would arrive at school at the same time (if their 'personal clocks' said they had to go at all).
What does time look like?
Super clever philosophers have been battling this one out for years. Isaac Newton believed that time and space form a container for events, kind of like a bucket. No, really: he argued that this container is as real as the objects it contains. But other smarties reckon that time doesn't look like anything at all. It is an abstract framework we use to help keep events in order. And, therefore, it doesn't flow, it can't contain anything and time travel is impossible. To further stir up the brain-busting debate, some suggest time is circular and that we have an infinite future. (Contrary to rumours, time looks nothing like a sheep playing poker in a leotard.)
Why do people in America say 'time is money'?
Benjamin Franklin, one of the leaders of the American Revolution, first said those words to a young tradesman in 1748, and they've been in use ever since. The richest nation on the planet, the USA, has always had a strong work ethic. The concept of the 'self made man or woman' is central to the national identity. This is the idea that the more time you spend working, the more successful you shall be (of course, if the boss at your Saturday job mumbles the phrase, it's because you shouldn't be texting your mates). People in places like Kenya, for example have different perceptions about time and the best way to spend it. Kenyans contentedly chat with friends for hours, enjoying and savouring time spent building and maintaining the relationships without anxiety about meeting this deadline or that one. French people traditionally spend a lot of time dining every day. A sociable mealtime with family and friends is an important daily activity that mustn't be cut short. The constrasting ways in which cultures spend time tells us loads about the way we live.
What time is it now?
While you've been blowing your mind with time knowledge, the sneaky thing's just carried on passing by. Time waits for no encyclopedia reader, buddy
GUESS WHAT? IN THE 15 MINUTES IT HAS TAKEN YOU TO READ THIS, THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PAID BUSINESSMAN HAS POCKETED $6,581.
