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Clock, n.
an instrument for measuring and recording time, especially by mechanical
means: not designed to be worn or carried about
Clock, v.
to strike sharply or heavily
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It’s one of the greatest inventions of mankind. At first, it was oversized and ugly; only the wealthy could afford them. Since then, everyone came to own one, made into ornaments that speak of the qualities desired by those that wear them. What began as an exclusive possession came to be democratized, and collective life no longer had to be ruled by the the peal of bells or the squeal of sirens that marked the passage of time. Instead, a new Era emerged: the clock wormed itself into the bedroom and latched onto the bodies of millions across the face of the earth.
Sociologists would describe this as part of a larger transformation: the emergence of mass society where life came to be defined by the rhythm of the machine. Even night was colonized: time chopped into shifts to maximize profit in pursuit of the American Dream. So important was this that a universal standard was established at the "center" of the world (Greenwich Mean Time), and with this shift space was colonized as well: distant places and climes calibrated to a single machine.
Perhaps this is why dictionaries warn of the danger of the clock, noting that it should not be worn or carried. Perhaps it’s also why, as a verb, the word has come to be used to describe an assault. It’s almost as if somewhere (in the shadows, perhaps?) there’s evidence that the clock’s triumph brought a certain danger: that hidden in the folds of its precision, unseen demons lay in wait.
Continue reading ‘The Lovely Bones: Samadhi vs. the Time of the Clock’
