Experience of Space and Time

The Urban Question, AR0820

1. Time-space compression between Amsterdam and London.

Source: Google Earth, Hans Roest

Hans Roest
1313762
mail@hansroest.com
Centre for Performing Arts
Heidi Sohn
11-06-2008
Table of contents

Table of contents.......................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3

Space and Time............................................................................................................................ 4

The compression of Space and Tim e............................................................................................. 4

Cognitive experiences in space ........................................................................................................ 6

Inductive thinking ......................................................................................................................... 7

Connections................................................................................................................................. 8

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 10

Attachments
Introduction

In this essay I want to focus on the notions of time and space and the cognitive and subjective experience
of these topics. I want to ask the question: What is the influence of time-space compression and our
process of thinking, on the way we perceive time and space?
It seems that the way we, as humans, perceive and react to space and time is very subjective matter, and
often based on experiences we have had in the past. Because of this link with the past, I also want to go
into the similarities and differences with inductive reasoning in Philosophy of Science, because this topic also
seems to have great influence on the way we perceive time and space.

To research all the connected topics, I will outline the different influences on time and space in separate, but
interconnected, chapters. In this way, the precise meaning of every influence becomes clear within the
whole. On the end of this essay I will link the influences together to give an answer to the question I want
to research.

The topics in this essay are related to the lecture series of The Urban Question (various lecturers) and
Philosophy ofScience (P. Healy).

Hans Roest
1313762
mail@hansroest.com
Space and Time

To research the influences we perceive on space and time, it is important to give them (space and time)
cleardefinitions. The termsspace and time were mentioned quite a few times by different lecturers in the
lecture series of T h e U rban question, and also play an important role in the arguments of David Harvey in
The Condition ofPostmodernity.
Harvey states that "space and time are basic categories ofhum an existence"1, yet we take them for granted
most of the time during our daily-life. We record the passage of time in
seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. to place all our experiences on a
fixed place on a scale. This timescale helps us to structure and organize
our lives in a very basic way. One of the properties of time is its
repetitive character; our birthday comes every year, and so does the
change of seasons, etc. This repetitive character only enhances the
organizing ability of time, and provides a sense of security and certainty
(predictability) in a world that is constantly plunging into the unknown
future. Another, very important, property of time is that it is both objective
and subjective in its nature; strictly taken, an hour consists of 60 minutes
and thus it has a fixed length (in duration; objective). However, one hour can
take a very long time to pass in an uncomfortable situation, or pass so fast we
barely notice when we experience moments of pleasure (subjective).
Space, like time in the previous examples, is also treated as a fact of nature,
naturalized through the everyday experiences in spaces. Space, however, is more
complex than time: it has direction, volume, distance, area, etc. as variable
attributes, which can be measured and recorded/ Like time, space can beobjective
2. Representation of time-space or subjective in its nature. A space can be measured and recorded,
compression. making it objective (an observation / Cartesian) but can also be
Source: (Harvey) The condition of imagined, dreamed or fantasized about, making it subjective. It is not
very hard for someone who is at work, to visualize his / her living room
at home. The imagined spaces, or mental images, represent the physical world, the real world, but have no
dimensions. In line with the question raised in the introduction, Harvey states that;

''It's im portant to challenge the idea o f a single and objective sense o f time or space, against which
we can measure the diversity ofhum an conceptions and perceptions. " 2

In other words; neither time nor space can be assigned objective meanings, independently of external
factors. This notion is very important because it implies that space and time are subjective and part of
cognitive and personal experiences in our daily lives, and also influenced by external actors and processes.

The explanations and examples of time and space given above are relatively concrete and every-day and
serve only to outline the kinds of time and space I will be talking about in this essay. When entering the
domain of the 'philosophical notions o f space and tim e' the notions become more abstract, but ultimately
come down to the same concrete descriptions that are given above.

The compression of Space and Time

The concept of time-space compression is an important notion in the book of Harvey, and is also very
interesting because it can be linked to the cognitive behavior and experience in space (and time). Time-
space compression is responsible for a great deal of influence on the way we perceive time and space, and
this is also why this notion is important in relation to the topic of this essay.

1This perception of space refers to the notion of Cartesian Space. Cartesian space is based on a coordinate system. All
spaces that are 'real' (that can be measured) can be placed within this coordinate system which is either two or three
dimensional.
Time-space compression is a term used to describe processes that seem to accelerate the experience of time
and reduce the significance of distance. Time-space compression often refers to technologies that seem to
accelerate or compress spatial distances, including technologies of communication (TV, phones, internet),
and travel (planes, cars, trains). In his book, Harvey explains this concept as following:

The time to traverse space and the way we commonly represent that fact to ourselves are useful
indicators o f the kind o f phenomena [time-space compression] I have in mind. As space appears to
shrink to a 'global village' o f telecommunications and 'spaceship earth' o f economic and ecological
interdependencies [...] and astim e horizons shorten to the pointw here the present 's a ll there is [...]
so we have to learn how to cope with an overwhelming sense o f compression o f our spatial and
temporal worlds. The experience o f time-space compression is challenging, exciting, stressful, and
sometimes deeply troubling, capable o f sparkling, therefore, a diversity o f social, cultural, and
politicalresponses."

Alexander Vollebregt used the following example to explain the notion of time-space compression in his
Urban Question lecture4:
Vollebregt asked the question: "W hatis the range (in space) someone can cover in one hour(tim e)?"
By foot, he stated, the distance someone can cover in one hour is approximately 6 km. So, when a man
starts walking in the centre of Amsterdam, he has a 6 km. radius area that he could reach in one hour. That
would bring him just to the outskirts of the city. It is reasonable to say that, without the use of 'technology'
(a bike, car, plane, etc.) the maximum reach within a certain amount o f time, in this case one hour, lies on
the edge of Amsterdam. The concept of time-space compression is already introduced when this man takes
a bike, and starts cycling from the centre of Amsterdam. With the bike, his maximum reach has expanded
to, let's say, 15 km. Suddenly, the towns outside of Amsterdam are also reachable within one hour. The
maximum reach has expanded well outside the city limits into the Dutch countryside, but the time to reach
this limit has not changed. This notion becomes even clearer when the man takes a taxi to Schiphol Airport
and takes a plane to London. Now London lies within the maximum reach that man can get to within
approximately one hour. Before the man started to use 'technology', London was weeks away, for it would
take a lot of time to reach London by foot and boat. In effect, London has moved right to the edge o f
Amsterdam nowadays.
Other technological advances, like television, radio and the internet can eliminate space completely. The TV
can show, in real-time, the events that are happening on the other side of the world. Radio and internet
make it possible to hear and see President Bush talk on the American radio without any delay. In effect,
these technologies completely eliminate the distance. The other side of the world is literally inside our living
room.5

3. Time-space compression between Amsterdam and London. Left: the distance someone can walk in one hour: approx.
6km. In the middle: the distance someone can cycle in one houre: approx. 15km. On the right: the distance a taxi drives
and a plane flies in one hour: approx. 350km.; London has effectively moved to the edge of Amsterdam!
Source: Google Earth, HansRoest
The time-space de-compression is the actual counterpart of time-space compression and makes places go
further apart compared to each other (only in time, not physically). This notion can be explained by a quote
of a BBC correspondent that stated, during the live airing of Concorde's final landing at Heathrow:
 "Concorde lands fo rth e lasttim e and ourevershrinking world becomesju st a bitbigger""

This is a very good example of time-space de-compression.

The compression of space is a subjective notion of the time it takes to get to a certain location, for the
actualdistance doesn't change at all. If we look back to Harvey in;

"It's im portant to challenge the idea o f a single and objective sense o f timeor space,against which
we can measure the diversity ofhum an conceptions and perceptions." 6

we can see that it is technology (the car and airplane, and the TV in previous examples) that changes our
perception of time and space in this case. If our perception of time and space is influenced by external
events, it is very interesting to see what actually happens with time and space inside our mind, by looking to
the cognitive (subconscious) field of sciences.

Cognitive experiences in space

Cognition was also mentioned several times during the lectures of The Urban Question as an important
influence on how we perceive time and space. Although cognition is a very broad subject, the lecturers
where mainly interested in a particular field of the cognitive researches, being the same field as the one that
was also presented in the Philosophy of Science lectures7; the m ental imaging and mapping ofspaces."
The example of the classroom filled with chairs was an example used by Stephen Read8 to illustrate
cognitive behavior and mental mapping: whenever we (as students) enter a room in the university, there's a
good chance we encounter chairs and tables facing the same direction, a whiteboard on one side of the
room, and very often, an open space in front of the whiteboard. The (cognitive) reaction to this scene is to
sit down on the chairs, and to expect the lecturer to take place in front of the whiteboard to give the lecture.
The very same reaction would also take place in New York or Tokyo, when confronted with a similar
situation, because we know (subconsciously) how to react in such an environment. (A reaction based on
previous situations)
The same example can be applied to almost everything we use in our daily-life; we know what to do in a
bathroom, it doesn't matter if it is in Delft or in Japan, we know how a bedroom in the USA works, etc. In all
these cases, the mind has built a m ental m odel of these situations which determines the reaction on the
different environments. Because the different environments are known from previous experiences in the past
we know how to react on them when we encounter them again. This process, however, develops almost
completely subconscious in the brain and is subject to a lot of studies and a lively topic of philosophical
discussions.iv

A m ental m odel is very much comparable with a mental map. Where a mental m odel is used to describe,
remember, and react to certain situations that have been encountered in the past, a m entalm ap is used to
store geographic7 data in our (subconscious) mind. The mental mapping of areas and the use of a mental
map by our brain is also a cognitive experience, and is used to structure our movements through space on a
daily basis. The map that is formed is not comparable with a (normal) geographical map, but rather a
representation of the cognitive image of a certain individual. This is the reason why there is a lot of
difference between mental maps of different individuals: the process of mental mapping is dependent on

" I don't have an official source for this quote, but, true or not, it illustrates the topic very well.
Internet source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-space_(de)compression.
11
1I'm aware that the field of cognition is very wide, and capable of having several different meanings. In this essay I will
only focus on the notions of mental mapping and mental images of know situations and locations when talking about
cognition.
iv Cognitive science is most simply defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence. It touches on:
psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, anthropology, computer science, and biology. Because a large part of
the research field of this science happens inside the human brain it is sometimes very hard to describe the subjective
character.
v The information stored in a mental map is not comparable with the 'real geographical data' but is used for the same
purpose; moving and orientating within space. (see attachment A)
perception and cognition and influenced by (mass)media, the environment, individual preferences, etc. The
spaces that are represented and stored inside our brain are called "Spaces ofRepresentation" 9 by Lefebvre.
It is interesting to see that mental maps are very much influenced by the notion of time-space compression.
It is not hard to imagine what happens to a mental map when the time between two locations is
compressed. The mental map of someone who is walking from point A to point B, will be very different (it
will always be different to a certain degree) to someone who is doing the same route by car.

As described above, the mental models and maps that are formed inside our mind are very much dependent
and influenced by the events that have happened in the past. These experiences (of the past) are used
throughout our lives to react on 'new' situations that are comparable with the ones we know. This property
of cognitivity is very much comparable with the notion of inductive thinking in philosophy.

Inductive thinking

Inductive thinking is one of the topics of philosophy of science that has very close connections to the
concepts of time-space compression and the m ental mapping of spaces, and could serve as an explanation
as to why our notion of space is influenced by the past.
The term of induction is used to describe a way of thinking that uses experiences from the past to produce
predictions about the future. This way of reasoning can be explained by the following example from
Philosophy ofS cience10:

The first five eggs in the box were rotten

All the eggs have the same best-before date stamped on them
Therefore, the sixth egg w ill be rotten too

This piece of inductive reasoning consists of two statements or propositions (the lines of text above the line)
that are called the premisses o f the inference followed by a third statement (the line of text under the line)
that's called the conclusion. The example above is inductive because it has the following property: it is
possible for the premisses to be true and yet the conclusion to be false. Inductive reasoning moves from
premisses about objects (in this case eggs) that have been examined (so: the past) to conclusions about
objects that haven't been examined. The opposite way of reasoning compared to induction is deduction.'
Deductive reasoning is a much safer activity that inductive reasoning. If we reason deductively, we can be
certain that if the premisses are true, the conclusion is going to be true as well. But the same does not hold
for inductive reasoning; induction can lead from true premisses to false. Despite this reasoning we seem to
rely on inductive reasoning throughout our lives as shown in the mental mapping process.

The impact of inductive thinking on the process of mental mapping and metal imaging is very interesting. All
of these topics use the past as a benchmark (a reference) for events in the future, even when it is not
guaranteed that the future events will be the same (even in the same situation). Just because a historical
situation has worked out to a certain conclusion, or experience, it does not mean that, when confronted to a
similar situation, the outcome will be the same, or even as expected! Of course, it is a very helpful tool to
(learn to) react on situations, and to find your way within space, but at the same time it is based on a very
weak foundation.
When we try to argue why exactly we use this type of reasoning we soon end up at Hume's problem of
induction. When David Hume was asked to give an explanation to the question why we, as humans, depend
on inductive thinking in our lives, he stated:

"The use inductive reasoning in ourdaiiyiives is sim p/ya m atterofbrute anim al habit."11

vi Induction has the following property: if the premisses are true, then the conclusion must be true as well. The
premisses entail the conclusion. Short example: All Frenchmen like red wine, Pierre is a Frenchmen > Therefore, Pierre
likes redwine.
In other words, of course very simplified compared to the real definition of Hume's problem; we use
inductive thinking as a way of reasoning, because it is a way of reasoning that has worked out well in the
past. It cannot be rationally justified at all, but we use it all the time.
So, we form mental maps and images to help us move through space and react to certain situations we
encounter. These mental maps are always based on events in the past and, although we don't know
whether the map is actually 'true', we keep using (hanging on to it actually) throughout our daily life!

Connections

The link between time-space compression, through cognitive behavior (m ental mapping), to inductive
thinking is very interesting. The concept of time-space compression influences our perception of time and
space in our mind and also in our m ental maps. Time-space compression is responsible for giant black holes
in our mental mapping process, and on the other hand allows us to explore the world with our house as
starting and centre point, as shown in the example with Amsterdam and London.

4. Possible mental map for someone going from Eindhoven to Amsterdam by car: Eindhoven city, highways, Dutch
landscape, skylines of other cities, traffic jam, highway exits and shortcuts, Amsterdam.
Source: Hans Roest. (For more examples of possible mental maps: see attachment A.)
The holes in our mental mapping process also fit within the example that is given when explaining the
notion of time-space compression, but this time I will use Eindhoven instead of London, to make the
example more real; time-space compression allows someone who lives in Eindhoven to go to work, within 90
minutes, in Amsterdam. However, depending on the sort of transportation used, the mental map doesn't go
all the way from Eindhoven to Amsterdam!
When going by car, the mental image of the road to Amsterdam is relatively detailed. When this is done
every day, one gets to know all the highway exits, possible shortcuts, etc. and one has to focus on the road
so one gets to know the road, thus making a mental map and image of the space in between the cities.
When going by train, this map of the world between Eindhoven and Amsterdam could be a lot less
elaborate. In a train, one can sleep while the train shoots through the landscape. When sleeping, the time-
space compression is even bigger, and the space could become compressed between Eindhoven CS directly
to Amsterdam CS, with nothing in between. When making the journey by plane, the mental map is almost
non-existent and is limited to the gates on the two airports. In this case, there is no m ental map of the
space in between the cities, but the distance covered remains constant!

5. Mental map when going from Eindhoven to Amsterdam by plane: Eindhoven airport, plane, Amsterdam Airport. A lot
less extensive and shorter.
Source: Hans Roest. (For more examples of possible mental maps: see attachment A.)

So, in the future, when this person thinks about the space between Eindhoven and Amsterdam, all this
person will know about thisspace, the m ental map, is the inside of a plane!
In the previous chapters I have described the three main influences that occur on time and space, as
handled in the lecture series of The Urban Question.
When I return to the question that was raised in the introduction of this essay; What is the influence of
time-space compression and our process of thinking, on the way we perceive time and space?
I come to the following conclusion; when all the information (time-space compression, cognitive experiences
and inductive thinking) is combined, it becomes clear that very much of the environment we live in, the
space we live in, is actually inside our mind.vii The mind subconsciously builds a mental model of the real
world which is very much influenced by technology and the history of the mind. This means that technology,
our ways of transportation, and all the other advances that create time-space compression, are responsible
for the (changes in the) experience of space. The other major impact on space is the history, or the
memory, or our mind. This memory determines our reaction to spaces and situations we encounter.
The connections and similarities between the cognitive experience of space and inductive thinking lie within
the fact that both these topics handle with the assumption of information that is based on experiences in the
past. The mental model of a certain situation or location only exists because this information has been
presented, in one form or the other, in the past. As Hume's problem describes, there is no rational reason
why we use this way of relating the past with the future. It is ju s t the way we, as humans, relate to the
world! The explanation of inductive thinking is also a possible explanation to mental models and cognitive
thinking. It explains why we use mental models, and how history is related to the past, but at the same time
it does not explain why we use inductive thinking itself as a way of reasoning.

The world that is represented in our mind, is almost as big as (or even bigger, when fantasy and imagination
are also considered) than the real world! It is very important that we, as architects, are aware of this theory
because we are constantly changing the spaces that people are living in, moving in, remember, and are
dreaming about. We always have to realize that is it not only the space we are changing, or creating, but
also (and mainly) the minds of the users and the visitors of these space

v" "Spaces ofRepresentation" the image of the world that is built by our mind, by Lefebvre.
Bibliography

Books:
• Harvey D. The condition ofPostm odernity, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003
• Okasha S. PhilosophyofScience: A VeryShortIntroduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002
• Lefebvre H. The Production ofSpace, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2000
• Healy P. Im agesofKnowiedge: An introduction to contemporary philosophy ofscience, Amsterdam:
SUN,2005
• Gehl J. Life between Buildings, Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press, 1971 (Dutch translation
used: Leven tussen Huizen)
• Read S. and Pinilla C. Visualizing the Invisible: towards an urban space, Amsterdam: Techne Press,
2006viii

Other:
• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/, subjects: Time-space compression, Time-space
(de)compression, David Harvey, Inductive reasoning, DavidHume, Cognition, Mentalmapping. Ix
• Lecture series, The Urban Question, TU Delft: 2008

The following sources are used as quotes, or are directly referred to in the text:

1 Harvey D. Thecondition ofPostmodernity, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003, p. 201

2 Harvey D. (2003) p. 203 / 204
3 Harvey D. (2003) p. 240
4 Vollebregt A. The Urban Body, TU Delft: 2008 (lecture)
5 Also stated by Harvey D. (2003) p. 286: "Mass television ownership coupled with satellite communication makes it
possible to experience a rush o f images from different spaces almost simultaneously, collapsing the world's spaces into a
series o f images on a television screen. The whole world can watch the Olympic Games, the World Cup, the fall o f a
dictator, a political summit, a deadly tragedy [...] while mass tourism, films made in spectacular locations, make a wide
range o f simulated or vicarious experiences o f what the world contains available to many people. The image o f places
andspaces becomes as open to production andephemerai use asanyother."
6 Harvey D. (2003) p. 203
7 Healy P. PhiiosophyofScience course (AR0840), TU Delft, 2008 (lecture series)
Healy P. ImagesofKnowiedge: An introduction tocontemporaryphiiosophyofscience, Amsterdam: SUN, 2005
8 Read S. Mapping Urban Complexity, TU Delft: 2008 (lecture)
9 Lefebvre H. The Production ofSpace, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2000, p. 34
10 Okasha S. PhiiosophyofScience: A Very ShortIntroduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 19
11 Okasha S. (2002) p. 24 (I will not elaborate more on the concept of Hume's problem because that would be too much
(irrelevant) information in this essay. Further reading: Okasha S. Philosophy o f Science: A Very Short Introduction,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)

vmThis source is not in the 'hardcopy version' because I forgot to put it in.
ix I'm aware that Wikipedia should be handled with care when used as a 'source.' In my case, I do mention the Wikipedia
websites I used because, although I don't refer to them directly, they often provided interesting background information
and 'further reading' on the topics. (Mentioned on the 'bottom' of the Wikipedia pages.)
Attachment A: Mental maps

B. A mental map as it is usually depicted on the internet. It has little to do with actual geographical data (although, this
example is organized in a geographical way), but rather an interpretation of geographical data, combined with external
influences and personal subjection.
Source: http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/MAS/MAS.965/f04/assignments/tripti/Assignment10/index.htm

A. Another representation of a mental map.

Source: http://www.uky.edu/~ulack/Geo152/Syllabus152Fall05.htm © 2006 W.H. Freeman and Company.