Reaction Paper On "Time and The Machine"

As intriguing as it may seem, a second is way more complicated than just 1/60th of a minute.
It
is scientifically defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 ‘oscillations’ of a caesium 133 atom
(Scharping). The connection between caesium atoms and time is uncanny to say the least.
Some may say that this definition is simply an excuse for the randomness of this measurement
we call “time”. Time, after all, might just be humanity’s greatest and most prominent invention. In
his piece “Time and the Machine”, Aldous Huxley tackles how the meticulous awareness of time
prevents people of the modern age from truly living life. Everything we do is measured and
limited by time. I interpreted this piece as commentary on how the modern world, mainly due to
the invention of time, takes away what makes us human. In an indirect yet significant way, time
drains our emotions and creativity precisely because it forces us to hurry.
First of all, our worth is measured by how fast we can accomplish a certain goal. From a young
age, we are made aware of the significance of every single minute and second that passes. As
students, academic responsibilities manifest through multiple deadlines each week. We learn to
strive hard to submit requirements at least minutes or even seconds before the 5pm deadline
set by our teachers. When we finally leave school to enter the workforce, our jobs would require
us to do the most amount of stuff in the shortest amount of time. He who is most efficient is
rewarded with the most promotions. Saying that we live in a fast-paced society is the biggest
understatement anyone could say regarding our way of living. Our modern world forces us to
operate in an inhumane machine-like way to produce results. Adversely, those who aren’t fast
enough suffer the most consequences. An example would be the exploitation of women in the
fashion industry. Garment workers work between 60-140 hours of unpaid overtime per week,
and are even denied breaks. It is worth noting that this industry is one of the most profitable,
with $2.5 trillion in global revenues for the year of 2019 alone (Hoskins). Speaking as a student,
this is evident in our school system. Having to do things at an excruciating pace does not allow
them to take a break, thus severely affecting their mental health (Jenkins).
Aside from this, Huxley also mentioned in his piece that artisans used to have a lot more time to
complete their masterpieces before the rise of industrialization. The industrial revolution brought
upon increased productivity in various fields, but it came with the expense of the invention of
“artificial, machine-made time”. Deadlines pose a great problem for those in the artistic field.
Consumers demand that their commissions arrive at the soonest possible time without taking
into consideration the burden it would place upon the artist. Art, as defined by Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary, is the use of the imagination to express ideas or feelings. Expression
needs time above anything else. It is one of the primary things that make us human. The
commodification of art brought upon by industrialization and capitalism goes against the reason
why art exists in the first place (Ash-Grimm).
Time waits for no one, and that is why we desperately try to make every tiny bit of it count. In
doing so, we encounter a paradox that unfortunately not everyone can see. This has been
mentioned in Huxley’s piece. Due to how much we focus on the tiniest aspects of time, we tend
to forget the bigger picture. Being so caught up in trying to cram all possible work into every
second, we tend to not realize that the sun has set or that the moon will be full for the night. In
other words, we forget about the long term benefits or consequences of what we do. There is a
saying that goes, “People overestimate what can be done in a day, but underestimate what can
be done in a year”. I found this piece to be particularly resonant with what I have been
encountering as of late. A new year has started, and I recently had the chance to reflect on the
past year. I have realized that during 2021 I was so focused on meeting deadlines as soon as
possible that I didn’t achieve a lot of long-term goals. I would end up cancelling some long–term
goals I have set for myself because it would get in the way of my academic responsibilities.
In conclusion, our current notion of time does more harm than good to our lives in the long run.
This invention started out as a way for our ancestors to get acquainted with nature, but like
other instruments, misuse and overuse inevitably lead to the deterioration of our human lives.
The world is full of due dates down to the last hour, deadlines down to the last minute, and world
records down to the last millisecond. We are caught in the hamster wheel of time. It traps us that
we become less like humans with emotions and creativity, but more like machines forced to
produce results at a quick pace. Being trapped in this hamster wheel only gives us the option to
survive and not to live. This was a particularly impactful piece for me because it tackled how
toxic our modern culture is when it comes to managing our time. As a student who is also
struggling in this hamster wheel, every argument that the author had written made perfect sense
to me. It is a piece of writing that I can always come back to whenever I feel that time has been
flying too quickly.
Works Cited
Ash-Grimm, Annaliese. “The Commodification of Art, and Capitalism's Infiltration of the Art
World.” Medium, 12 September 2021,
https://medium.com/@annalieseashgrimm/the-commodification-of-art-and-capitalisms-inf
iltration-of-the-art-world-bd8076a2b690. Accessed 11 January 2022.
Hoskins, Tansy. “'They left us starving': How the fashion industry abandoned its workers.”
openDemocracy, 18 January 2021,
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/they-left-us-starving-how-fashion-indust
ry-abandoned-its-workers/. Accessed 11 January 2022.
Jenkins, Jamie. “Mental health & deadlines.” The Boar, 16 March 2017,
https://theboar.org/2017/03/82496/. Accessed 11 January 2022.
Scharping, Nathaniel. “Why 1 Second Is 1 Second.” Discover Magazine, 18 January 2018,
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/why-1-second-is-1-second. Accessed
11 January 2022.

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As intriguing as it may seem, a second is way more complicated than just 1/60th of a minute.

World.” Medium, 12 September 2021,

iltration-of-the-art-world-bd8076a2b690. Accessed 11 January 2022.

openDemocracy, 18 January 2021,

ry-abandoned-its-workers/. Accessed 11 January 2022.

https://theboar.org/2017/03/82496/. Accessed 11 January 2022.

Scharping, Nathaniel. “Why 1 Second Is 1 Second.” Discover Magazine, 18 January 2018,

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