The helicoid geochronograph is Dinotopia's water-powered timepiece that reconciles cyclical and linear conceptions of time.
Which is it? Is time linear or cyclical? Here are some arguments in favor of each view:
1. Things decay. The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that all systems tend toward maximum entropy.
2. Time cannot be reversed. Organisms grow older and die. Time travel isn't possible.
3. The past adds up. Libraries fill with books and our computers fill with data.
4. Time is precisely measurable in linear terms using clocks and other devices.
Cyclical
1. The planets and seasons repeat their movements in very predictable ways.
1. The planets and seasons repeat their movements in very predictable ways.
2. Cyclical time is more useful and increases our connection to nature.
3. It's a falsification of history to see it only in terms of progress, because cycles of growth and decay can be well documented in human history.
4. We tend to underestimate the effects of circadian rhythms on the changing states of our body and mind.
Can we have both? Is it possible to keep both of these conceptions in mind at the same time? I think so. Even in the Western tradition, we say both "time marches on" and "history repeats itself."
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