[keiferski]

Another interesting thing is how Western clock technology was adapted to fit traditional Japanese notions of time, in the pre-Meiji era (after which, Japan adopted Western time.)

A Japanese clock (和時計, wadokei) is a mechanical clock that has been made to tell traditional Japanese time, a system in which daytime and nighttime are always divided into six periods whose lengths consequently change with the season. Mechanical clocks were introduced into Japan by Jesuit missionaries (in the 16th century) or Dutch merchants (in the 17th century).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_clock

And on a related note, Lewis Mumford, a philosopher and writer, wrote quite a bit about how clocks were (in his view) the necessary invention for capitalism to flourish:

The first phase of technically civilized life (AD 1000 to 1800) begins with the clock, to Mumford the most important basis for the development of capitalism because time thereby becomes fungible (thus transferable). The clock is the most important prototype for all other machines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_and_Civilization

[sigil]

> And on a related note, Lewis Mumford, a philosopher and writer, wrote quite a bit about how clocks were (in his view) the necessary invention for capitalism to flourish.

Szabo also takes this up in his excellent essay "A Measure of Sacrifice":

Fair broadcast and verification of time was thus of fundamental importance to the most common contractual relationship in the new European cities. In agricultural societies, including medieval Europe, serfdom and slavery had provided most of the labor. Most workers in a modern economy earn wages based on a time rate. Along with or following the rise of the time-rate institution – including the contracts themselves, the laws and regulations governing the contracts, and the technology to fairly measure the principal quantity – came the growth of related economic institutions, such as the joint stock company. These institutions enabled a boom in productivity and the spectacular rise of Europe from its darkest ages to the modern era. We will now chart the rise of the clocks and the institutions they supported.

https://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/rob/Courses/InformationInSpeech/C...

[loppink]

There is a scene in that recent shogun series where a team performs a raid.

The leader sends the team in in small waves and “times” each groups entrance by counting rhythmic taps on his shoulder.

I thought it was such a great detail to include.

Of course rhythm would be the measure of time without a watch to look at.

[bombcar]

One of the medieval time measurements were standard prayers - a Pater Noster is about the same amount of time each time, and a decade of a rosary for a given person will be pretty consistent.

[yencabulator]

Two more modern anecdotes of using songs for rhythm or timing:

The ideal pace for CPR chest compressions is pretty much exactly Stayin' Alive by Bee Gees. Or if you like darker humor, Another One Bites the Dust by Queen.

At the peak of COVID-19, the recommended duration for hand washing was Happy Birthday twice.

[antognini]

Reminds me of how the Pueblo leader Popé distributed ropes with knots tied in them to various groups across the region to coordinate his attack. Every day each group would untie one knot in their rope, and when all the knots were untied they were to attack the Spanish.

[jes5199]

traditionally, every culture used seasonal/unequal hours! just, in Europe, the advantage of mechanical clocks was so great that the culture changed to fit the technology