Einstein’s time relativity leaves social time structures untouched

Evidence

I do not mean in any way to contest the extraordinary interest that the discoveries of physics have for our theoretical and philosophical understanding of time, nor even the idea that in the long run they will probably have effects on our social practices. At present, however, they help at most to strengthen the enigmatic character of time. Therefore I hold both of these assertions to be mistaken: the relativization of time in the natural sciences does not lead to the collapse of temporal structures in our social institutions and our temporal orientations and horizons. It leaves time structures and perspectives at all three levels (everyday time, the time of life, and historical time) untouched. At best, “relativized time,” especially when combined with esoteric bodies of thought, may take on the functions of a new sacred time for some actors. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 147

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader debate on whether natural-science discoveries translate into social/organizational change, and to how pseudo-scientific legitimation functions in social movements. — connects to: Physics discoveries leave everyday and institutional time structures untouched. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 147; Explaining time-experience change requires social and cultural analysis, not physics — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 148

Broader Connections

• Physics discoveries leave everyday and institutional time structures untouched. #corroborates (0.95) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 147
• Explaining time-experience change requires social and cultural analysis, not physics #corroborates (0.85) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 148