Time has lost its scent

A psychological analysis of The Scent of Time: A Philosophical Essay on the Art of Lingering by Han, Byung-Chul.

“Whoever tries to live faster, will ultimately also die faster. It is not the total number of events, but the experience of duration which makes life more fulfilling. Where one event follows close on the heels of another, nothing enduring comes about. Fulfillment and meaning cannot be explained on quantitative grounds. A live that is lived quickly, without anything lasting long and without anything slow, a life that is characterized by quick, short-term and short-lived experiences is itself a short life no matter how high the ‘rate of experience’ may be.”

– Byung-Chul Han

The constant pursuit of achievement has made us forget to live. Society has instilled the idea that if we work hard enough, we will reach the promised happiness. This is why I believe people are not consciously pursuing achievement, but in reality are in the pursuit of happiness, a “happiness” that was distorted throughout time and that glorifies individual success and materialism. We’ve forgotten that we are designed to value relationships, reciprocity and the sense of connection. Han argues that modern individuals are no longer a subject of external discipline but instead internalize a constant need to improve and achieve. This school of thought is justified by “self-fulfillment” when in reality it only leads to exhaustion and paradoxically self-destruction.

People no longer recognize the boundary between leisure and work, this creates a sense of meaninglessness and life becomes a series of tasks to be completed rather than an experience to be lived. Constant productivity, efficacy and self-optimization are a recipe for burnout. Depression emerges when inadequacy invades us, specially in a society with high expectations and rising standards. Lao Tzu’s philosophy emphasizes the importance of stillness using the cup metaphor: the space inside, rather than its physical form, gives it purpose. Modern society has eliminated the necessary gaps for contemplation, leading to a state of perpetual dissatisfaction and relentlessness.

A performance-driven mindset exacerbates anxiety disorders. Living in a world that has created a metric system that quantifies our own worth (steps taken, hours worked, number of likes, number of followers, etc.) has altered our sense of inadequacy and comparison. Han’s concept of “atomized time” is relevant since in this case life is being reduced to measurable events without lingering, reflection, or genuine fulfillment. This type of fragmentation of experiences makes real and deep connections more difficult to form. The fear of missing out or FOMO is a perfect example of this. People feel the pressure to participate in an endless stream of activities while never fully experiencing any of them. Here is where anxiety disorders develop since without a space for contemplation we often look down to the floor in a “tunnel-vision” kind of way, only to continually and automatically push toward an unreachable ideal.

Social media encourages the creation of an alter-ego in pursuit of validation. In this society, identity formation does not leave space for the development of an authentic sense of self because we’re trapped in a cycle of self-promotion and comparison. Relationships become transactional and fleeting, which then create a sense of isolation and alienation. Without the “sense of time”, life becomes a series of isolated moments rather than a cohesive and enduring narrative.