Time Is Running Out

Last class we discussed J.G. Whitrow’s What is Time: Time and Ourselves.  I enjoyed Kant’s idea that we all possess innate faculties such as the perception of time.  Humans are able to conceptualize that life does come to an end, time is essentially running out.  By looking at artwork through the ages, one can see that many artworks deal with the ensuing threat of death and the memories that artists would like to preserve.  Our death and our birth, they are the markers that we existed here on earth.  The time spent in between—the memories made—they are up to us.  By using art, memories can be preserved in time, keeping them from being altered in our minds, perhaps even conveying truths or greater truths.  I believe that everything that happens in our life is recorded into our brains but only the outstanding memories are the easiest to access. 

In the reading I learned that “time is not a simple sensation but depends on processes of mental organization uniting thought and action.”  This is our reaction to change.  The changes in life are often documented and preserved through art of all forms. Be it song, painting, or sculpture, life is instilled into these mediums by the artist. By creating his or her own works of art, an artist is able to impart a part of his or herself unto their medium, effectively ensuring their immortality through a permanent and beautiful piece of art. This immortality gained through remembrance, although not a true immortality, gives the artist a sense of pride and value in his or her work.

Upon reading this article, I began to question whether or not I believed in Déjà vu.  I feel that our brain connects certain similar situations to present events, leading us to falsely believe that we’ve seen that very situation occur before.  I find it slightly ridiculous and hard to accept as true.  If it is true, is it a product of human evolution?

Also, I liked the verse by Guy Pentreath:

“For when I was a babe and wept and slept, time crept, and when I was a boy and laughed and talked, time walked, and as the years saw me a man, time ran, and as I older grew, time flew".

I wonder why as we get older, our sense of time changes?  Is it because we come to the realization that “time is running out”?

So, since I've been talking a lot about how time is running out, I decided that I wanted to know more about the song "Time is Running Out" by Muse.  

These are the lyrics:

I think I'm drowning

Asphyxiated

I wanna break this spell

you've created

You're something beautiful

A contradiction

I wanna play the game

I want the friction

You will be the death of me

Yeah you will be the death of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out

Our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom

Bound and restricted

I tried to give you up

But I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped

sense of elation

You'd never dream of

Breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out

Our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

How did it come to this?

Ooooohh

Yeah you will suck the life out of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out

Our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

How did it come to this?

Ooooohh 

First off, upon listening to the song you will notice that there are a series of clapping/clicking noises meant to represent a ticking clock.  When you watch the video you will notice that the band is playing on a conference table and that all the political heads in attendance do the exact same things (implying conformity and unwillingness to change).  The significance of the band being in attendance, playing this song, is that they are trying to give a wake-up call but they are completely ignored (implying the underdogs of society need to be listened to).  Then you see the political heads kind of strip dancing.  I think this is to show the corruptness of the "people in charge".  The end of the video emphasizes the lyric, "How did it come to this?" because it shows the political heads throwing their papers in the air in a deranged manner, and then leaving the scene.  This symbolizes their inability to deal with the world's problems and so they therefore ignore them despite the fact that our "time is running out".  I wish I had more insight into this video and song but it was very difficult to find information on. Hopefully, though, this helped to raise some questions.