The mobile continua which are brought into relation with one another in the measurement of time by one serving as a reference point for the other, no matter whether they serve mere dating, dividing up into periods or interpretation, are not chosen arbitrarily, however. They are superior' in a very definite sense, and they are made ‘superior' relative to the social organization of a society, its power structure, its value system and its builtin dynamics of development. Significances are ascribed to them which, viewed from a different perspective, are not peculiar to them. But once they have attained a significance, this continues to have an effect and rubs off on other interpretations. This was the case in the relation between linearity and cyclicality. Just as the arrow of time which points from the past via the present into the future says nothing as yet about dividing lines which mark individual periods of time, linearity does not rule out a cyclical recurrence from the start. But it is not possible to abstract from human ascriptions of significance. Every conception of time has to accommodate the idea ofirreversible change and the idea of repetition; they therefore correspond to the reproducible’ time of physics. Societies can, however, make a choice within certain limits, construct their time and change this construction again.
From the Future to the Extended Present
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