In the days of sealing, the passage of time suddenly felt longer. The same is "staying at home", some people read and study, and some people brush videos and post paragraphs. The different ways of spending time reflect different "value immunity", and also give us an opportunity to rethink and examine time, as well as precipitate our hearts and understand ourselves.
Once upon a time, modern people were in the middle of time, but it was difficult to be "friends with time". In the "urban forest", people more or less feel the urge and even squeeze of time, either shouting "Hurry up, it's too late", or complaining "You are late, my time is precious"... In the rush of the line, the busy people have no time to stop, and they have no time to enjoy the scenery around them.
Throughout the history of the development of Chinese and foreign philosophy, "time" has always been the focus of interest of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign philosophers and thinkers. Kant, a representative figure of German classical philosophy, specifically discussed time, arguing that time and space belong to the category of a priori, which is a priori presupposition of human thinking. In other words, time precedes human experience. Man has time before he comes into the world without producing self-experience. This a priori prejudgment is undoubtedly a reminder to fear time.
Heidegger relates time to existence, revealing that time is finite to concrete objects, but that time itself does not matter whether it is finite or infinite. It is precisely because of the limited nature of time to individuals that people know how to cherish time and plan time better.
Marx was also concerned with time, and he defined value as undifferentiated human labor condensed in commodities, which in a sense manifested itself as a certain amount of labor time. Therefore, how to shorten the working time, and then extend the free time of individuals, has become an important basis for human beings to move towards freedom and all-round development. Through his contemplation of time, Marx also connected labor with human freedom, further demonstrating the meaning of time for the individual.
Sociologists further pay attention to the proposition that individuals continue to complete socialization in time, emphasizing that time in the sociological sense is an expression of social activity, arguing that "time is social, and society is also time". In other words, time not only provides the conditions for the socialization of the individual, but also promotes the formation of relationships between people.
Today, the public services provided by big cities have improved so much that they give the illusion that "I can live well on my own." But in the long-term dimension, it can be found that the continuation of human beings to this day relies more on unity, the collective strength gradually formed between people in time.
Ancient Chinese thinkers and philosophers also had many discussions about time. Confucius said: Thirty and standing, forty and not confused, fifty and knowing the mandate of heaven, sixty and obedient, seventy and not exceeding the rules of the heart. In time, experience has accumulated, and the view of life has become more and more mature and rich.
Time has also fulfilled Confucius's sage realm. Mencius lamented that Confucius was "the one who is holy in time", saying that Confucius was able to adapt to changes and make corresponding judgments and decisions at different times. Mencius believed that Confucius was the "one who gathered the greatest achievements" compared to Bo Yi, Yi Yin, and Liu Xiahui. It can be seen that the flexible use of timing can be described as an important representation of the Confucian sage realm.
"Zhongyong" said: Gentlemen among the mediocre, gentlemen and timely; the villains among the mediocre, the villains and unscrupulous also. The distinction between a gentleman and a villain can actually be shown by "time". The so-called "time in the middle", in simple terms, is to find a suitable "midpoint" between "over" and "not enough". Grasping the timing and changing from time to time is an inherent requirement of a gentleman's personality.
In summary, it can be seen that time is related to the existence of individuals and the paving of history, which is an important path and driving force for individuals to move towards the ideal personality state and continuously achieve self-achievement. In the context of Chinese and Western classical philosophy, time is not a factor that hinders and oppresses the individual, but is precisely an important condition for self-achievement.
In contrast, in modern society, many people are accustomed to using time to do things, rather than respecting time itself, and will not reflect on the value and meaning of time to individuals on the basis of respect: time is crushed and becomes fragments, and the spiritual life of individuals is also fragmented; time seems to be unable to become a whole, but becomes a sand-like existence, and the more they want to grasp it, the faster it passes.
In the 1660s, a plague broke out in London, England. It is said that nearly 80,000 people lost their lives as a result of the plague, accounting for 1/5 of the total population of London at that time. Cambridge was not far from London, and Newton, who was studying there at the time, was inevitably affected. Faced with the sudden plague, Newton chose to return to his birthplace and engage in scientific research with peace of mind. The following year, Newton invented the principle of calculus, experimented with the decomposition of light, and proposed a preliminary idea of gravity.
External uncertainty limits the individual's space for action, but it does not necessarily waste one's time. For Newton, his spiritual world was unrestricted. On the contrary, he used this rare time to achieve self-achievement and complete his pioneering work.
Equally rare is Wang Wei, who is leisurely and unhurried. He said in "The End of the South Farewell": Occasionally value Lin Shuo, talk and laugh without repayment. In the midst of laughter, the poet forgets the time to return home, because he is not in a hurry, and he is generous and generous, so that he can not be bound by the scale of time and the quantification of minutes and seconds.
Both Newton and Wang Wei consciously or unconsciously merge themselves with time in the process of "forgetting time". They focus on what they should focus on and use their time to enrich themselves and achieve themselves.
However, no matter how it merges with time, the life of the individual is always limited. There is a fairy tale in which everyone's time is made into a time calendar. There was a child who wanted to grow up quickly, so he took the liberty of selling his time to others. As a quick adult, he began to regret that time flew by and he found nothing. Later, he retrieved the time calendar of the sale and was able to return to his childhood. In a finite life, neither wasting time nor rushing to get by may be a middle way of dealing with time.
Hawking said in "A Brief History of Time": "Although people will live and die, the idea that the universe must be immortal and unchanging can give people comfort." This sentence not only shows the tension between the finite and infinite time, but also reveals the truth that the concept of immortality and immutability will dissolve the individual's fear of the finiteness of his own time. People can go to eternity by creating value.
Under the "slow pace" of fighting the epidemic, we can adjust to a daze, read quietly, and seriously reflect on ourselves and life. I believe that when more people can treat time correctly and "be friends with time", they can better achieve the ideal personality and reach the realm of a gentleman. Making life full and open is no longer a difficult task.
(Author: Wu Long, Associate Professor, School of Philosophy and Law and Politics, Shanghai Normal University, Director of youth academic alliance)