Jeve & Steve: A Graphic Novel on Horological Myth

For some Time now, I've been focusing a large part of my creative energies on producing a Postmodern myth. It has been a huge undertaking, investing thousands of hours in developing a large cast of characters, a meaningful outline moving over 36 individual issues and through six chapters, a novel font called "Leaf", a new artistic style, and of course a syncretic narrative that borrows quite broadly from many of the world's ancient civilizations.

This novel serves many of my aims as an artist-creator, but above all, it sets forth some of my most basic theories on how the concept of Time came into being. Despite being a light-hearted fiction, it plies quite close to a rigorous examination of the hermeneutical operations that make for engaging and lasting myth, as well as a clarification of some of the strongest undercurrents of religious speculation. My hope is that reading this narrative will offer a fresh and illuminating perspective on the ancient role that horology played in laying the foundations of history, and will give us a broader sense of the drives that continue to bring religious thinking back into the fold of human societies. 

Just to give you a taste of what I'm up to, here's a detail from the first page of the Macrogenesis, the Cosmogonic Myth which describes the generations of horological deities leading up to Jeve & Steve's own birth: 

Father Time & Mother Nature combine to produce the form of Death. 

The mythical elements of this story have exploded into a form that I could never have anticipated. The system I'm using for writing this story is surpassing my every expectation, which in itself is suggestive of why so many authors in times past have utilized it. There is much still to come, and yet so much has already been accomplished here, that I'm quite hopeful for what still lay ahead. 

Facebook's Contribution to Horology: the "Flick"

I haven't posted in a while, though that does not say anything about the time I spend contemplating Time's various human and natural dimensions. But every once in a while, I find something that looks to me like it should belong in my blog, and this article by ScienceAlert.com seems apt.

Essentially, Facebook solved a mathematical problem involving the use of cinematic frame-rates to produce a more elegant numerical value than the ones based on existing digital time-frames. In addition to this, Facebook released the documentation as open-source for gamers and film-makers, suggesting the possibility that the Flick may someday soon become almost as common used as the bit.

There you have it. All you have to do is own a multi-billion dollar media company, and you too might be able to introduce your own horological unit for public use. Good luck. 

Is Time Reversal Possible?

In a recent PBS Article on Time Reversal, Allison Eck describes a new scientific experiment performed at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany, in which the arrow of time had been reversed. This reversal occurred at the quantum scale, essentially, as the reversal of the law of thermodynamics which describes how heat loss occurs. Her article links another article from Science News by Emily Conover.

Whether or not Time reversal is possible in material systems larger than quantum scale objects remains to be seen. But the beginnings of such grand designs appears to necessitate starting small. Very small. In principle, the effects being studied were highly localized, as apparently between a very small number of atoms.

In effect, the team who performed the study coaxed warm atoms into getting hotter by robbing the thermal energy from cooler atoms. Performed on a large scale, this would tantamount to starting a fire by throwing ice-cubes on wood. If that sounds strange, well, so does Time reversal.

But Time reversal is so much more than simply the reverse of thermodynamic entropy. To get comprehensive Time reversal, one would have to reverse the trajectories of particles, and would only be able to go back as far as the particle's prior path interactions, all of which would have to be reversed. When examined in this light, Time reversal sounds possible only in the loosest sense of the term. To achieve human scale effects would seem to require near omniscient powers of observation and omnipotent powers of control, not just of the object one wished to send back, but of the very environment in which is was sent.

According to the study's coauthor, Eric Lutz, the result shows that "the arrow of time is not an absolute concept, but a relative concept." As a philosopher of concepts of time, I agree. But the pragmatic reality isn't really all that different for it. I remain unpersuaded that Time reversal will ever become a practical human reality, at least with the technology utilized here, as best as I understand it.  

25 top time travel films

http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/movies/g3086/best-time-travel-movies/?src=socialflowFB

Time, Etc.: We are One Step Closer to Time-Travel (Reversal, that is)

This article suggests that Time travel has been cleared up mathematically. It is difficult to imagine what the device suggested will even look like, but they couldn't help titling the thing after Dr. Who's famous TARDIS.

Anyhow, take a look. 

Horology in the News: Harrison Clock Accurate to Within a Second per 100 Days

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/19/clockmaker-john-harrison-vindicated-250-years-absurd-claims?platform=hootsuite

So, the "Worshipful Company of Clockmakers" (whose website makes for a fascinating case study in modesty) recently made a clock, based upon a 250 year old design, accurate to within one second per 100 days. The project vindicated the claims of the horologist, John Harrison, who made this claim at a time when clocks were simply not that accurate. In addition to having a fantastic wig, Harrison made nice clocks.

Not entirely sure why, but it almost always brings me a slight feeling of relief to contemplate that some of our predecessors were sometimes smarter than people gave them credit for. 

Questions? Just Ask!

For those of you interested in settling matters related to the nature and role of the concept of Time to religious and historical themes, feel free to send me your questions! My fees are beyond reasonable! Check my profile here:

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