The permanence of change itself grants passing objects an illusion of duration

Evidence

When we furnish a house these days, intending the articles to last a quarter of a century, we invariably invest in furniture designed according to the very latest patterns and do not even consider articles in vogue two years before. Yet it is evident that the attraction of fashion will desert the present article just as it left the earlier one, and satisfaction or dissatisfaction with both forms is determined by other material criterions. A peculiar psychological process seems to be at work here in addition to the mere bias of the moment. Some fashion always exists and fashion per se is indeed immortal, which fact seems to affect in some manner or other each of its manifestations, although the very nature of each individual fashion stamps it as being transitory. The fact that change itself does not change in this instance endows each of the objects which it affects with a psychological appearance of duration. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 742

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors Lofland’s insight that the urban public order is itself permanent though its contents churn — a structural anchoring of the blasé attitude. — connects to: The exchange sphere masks exploitative production relations and produces the illusion of isolated individuals; Knowledge requires mental reflection on existence rather than passive sensory impressions — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 693; Fashion recurs cyclically because old forms regain the charm of difference once forgotten — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 743 (+10 more)

Related

• Subjective duration is a separate sensation from physical elapsed time (similarity 0.91)
• Fashion recurs cyclically because old forms regain the charm of difference once forgotten (similarity 0.86)
• Fashion heightens the felt presence of the present moment (similarity 0.80)
• Utopian fulfillment splits into temporal tendency and perceptual latency of present things. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The exchange sphere masks exploitative production relations and produces the illusion of isolated individuals #complicates (0.40)
• Knowledge requires mental reflection on existence rather than passive sensory impressions #expands (0.35) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 693