Observation of natural phenomena and counting time
O time it is a fundamental issue for our existence. Initially, the first men to inhabit the earth determined the score of this item through the constant observation of natural phenomena. Thus, the first time counting references stipulated that the morning and the night, at moon phases, the position of others stars, the variation of tides or the growth of crops could measure “how much time” has passed. In fact, the criteria for this operation are diverse.
finite awareness
Not only being based on a perception of material reality, the way in which man counts his time can also be visibly influenced by the way in which life is understood. In some civilizations, the idea that there was a start in which the world and time were conceived together is followed by the dreadful expectation that someday these two items will reach their end. Other peoples, on the other hand, understand that the beginning and the end of time are repeated through a cyclic understanding of existence.
Definition of historical time
Despite being an extremely important reference for man to situate himself, the counting of time is not the main focus of interest of the History. In other words, this means that historians are not interested in chronological time, counted in calendars, because its passage does not determine the changes and events (the such factshistories) that so attract the attention of this type of scholar. Thus, if this is not the type of time worked by history, what time does such science use?
The time used by historians is called "timehistoric", which has an important chronological time difference. While calendars work with exact and proportional time constants and measures, the organization made by historical science takes into account the eventsshort and long term. In this way, the historian uses the ways of organizing society to say that a given time is different from another.
Following this logic of thought, historical time can consider that the AgeAverage lasts practically a millennium, while the AgeModern span just four centuries. The reference used by the historian works with the changes that societies promote in their organization, in the development of political relations, in the behavior of economic practices and in other actions and gestures that mark history of a people.
In addition, the historian can still admit that the passage from a certain historical period to another is still marked by stays that point to certain habits of the past, in the present of a society. With this, we can see that History does not admit a rigid understanding of time, in which the Modern Age, for example, is radically different from the Middle Ages. In this science, changes never manage to definitively sweep away the marks offered by the past.
Importance of the two forms of time
Even though it seems that historical time and chronological time are surrounded by several differences, the historian uses the chronology of time to organize the narratives he builds. At the same time, if chronological time can be organized by various references, historical time it can also vary according to the society and the criteria that are relevant to the student of the past.Thus, both are of great importance for man to organize his existence.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
