Memories of tomorrow

on the interpenetrations of time in later life

Robert Kastenbaum

pp. 191-214

in: Bernard S. Gorman, Alden E. Wessman (eds), The personal experience of time, Berlin, Springer, 1977

Abstract

Why would you and I be here today unless each of us had some private fascination with time? And how would we have anything substantial to share with each other unless, over the years, some of this private fascination had been transformed into controlled observations and all the rigorous maneuvers of scientific theory and research? Yet I continue to wonder how well our studies represent the experiential world of psychological time. Consider, for example, the meanings and uses of time for those who have themselves survived the passing of many hours, years, and decades. It is doubtful that either popular stereotypes or the available research do justice to the varieties of time experience at their command.