Time feels natural. Constant. Inevitable.

But the way we experience time today is almost entirely invented.

In this episode of Curious by Design, we explore how time went from something humans observed, sunrise, seasons, cycles, to something we track, schedule, owe, and feel constantly behind on.

For most of history, time was local and flexible. An “hour” changed with the seasons. Noon was simply when the sun was highest where you stood. That all broke in the 19th century, when railroads needed synchronized schedules and consistency became a matter of safety. In 1883, American rail companies quietly erased local time, resetting clocks nationwide in an event later called “The Day of Two Noons.” Time became infrastructure before anyone voted on it.

From church bells to factory whistles, punch clocks to atomic clocks, this episode traces how time evolved into a system of coordination, productivity, and control. We look at how industrialization turned time into money, how precision created anxiety, and how modern life layered calendars, deadlines, and notifications onto a natural phenomenon that was never meant to feel this rigid.

Time isn’t just physics.

It’s culture.

It’s design.

It's construct.

And most of the stress we associate with it comes from systems less than two hundred years old.

The next time you feel rushed, behind, or like there’s never enough time, remember: you’re not failing at something natural. You’re navigating a design, one built for order and efficiency, not peace or presence.

That’s Curious by Design.

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