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Concepts of time

Updated Mar 22 2023

The Greeks had two different conceptions of time: chronos (quantitative, linear) and kairos (qualitative, nonlinear).

Ancient Indians had a similar conception of time: kala (quantitative) and ritu (qualitative).

Deep time (also called geological time, cosmological time, or radiological time) involves the time scale of geologic events, which is incomparably vast compared to the time scale of human history.

Seasonal time belongs more to the qualitative sense of time, where things are allowed to ebb and flow with their seasons instead of hewing to the abstraction of hours, minutes, or a 7-day week.