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A sense of time
Yet that very combination has generated other consequences which have been dysfunctional in their effect. A by-product of man's intelligence is a highly developed perception of time, both past and future, coupled with the ability to plan a future course of conduct. This sense of future time, and the sense of being able to plot the future, is developed beyond any comparable ability elsewhere in the living world. Most animals give the appearance of existing in a continuous present, with the ability to analyse their changing environment is terms of the passage of time. They react to the recurrence of regular events, times of day, temperature changes, plant growth, the presence of other animals, in accordance with habitual or hormonal rhythm; and that may give the appearance of matching man's ability to plan.
But man is different. Man's distinctive sense of time, his ability to imagine the future and to plan for it, sets him apart from other species.
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The Past
The study of history has taken its place in every society as a social institution in its own right, performing a range of educational, psychological and political functions. It seems to be a precondition of functional normality that each individual should have a settled view of his own past, both individual and social.
Each succeeding generation re-writes its own history, with different emphases, to demonstrate a continuity capable of carrying intellectual conviction. Personal diaries are a distinctive human phenomenon, as is the strength of interest in the diaries of others. The earnest attempts by adopted children to establish the truth of their genetic origins further exemplifies the importance of an ordered and accessible past. The European genealogy business, serving in particular Americans in search of their family roots, testifies to the strength of this drive. In presenting a picture of an individual to a stranger, it is common practice to prepare a curriculum vitae, presenting an ordered view of the individual's life
to date. Who's Who and similar publications help to structure
man's view of his social and political environment. Biography and autobiography
are popular literary genres, as are historical novels and TV
programmes.
The role of history > more ...
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