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Georg Franck

Tu Wien, Digital Methods in Architecture and Planning, Faculty Member

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Georg Franck studied philosophy, economics and architecture. His doctorate is in economics. In 1974 he became a practising architect and urban designer. In addition, he was active in software development and produced a planning information system, which has been marketed since 1991. From 1994 to 2015 he held the chair of digital methods in architecture and planning at the Vienna University of Technology, his main fields of research being evolutionary methods in floor plan design, the understanding and modelling of the city as a process, the constituents of architectural quality and the reorganisation of urban design as a commons mode of production according to the principles of peer-to-peer and open source. Beyond the confines of his discipline, he became known for his work on the economy of attention, the concept of which he had introduced in 1993, and the philosophy of time. Due to his work in the field, he was appointed to teach philosophy in the stadium generale of his university.

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Sebastian Aeschbach

Université de Genève

Tu Wien

Ingrid Vendrell-Ferran

Philipps Universität Marburg

Robert van Krieken

The University of Sydney

Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Prabhakar S Rao

University of Calgary

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Papers by Georg Franck

I Competition in the Service of Self-esteem

Vanity Fairs, 2020

What Kind of Being Is Mental Presence? Toward a Novel Analysis of the Hard Problem of Consciousness

Mental presence is how phenomenal consciousness exists. The very existence of consciousness is wh... more Mental presence is how phenomenal consciousness exists. The very existence of consciousness is what gives rise to the so-called \hard problem of consciousness". In contrast to problems concerning the contents of conscious phenomena, the problem of their very existence has so far escaped detailed analysis. This paper ventures a new attempt, making use of the distinction between mental presence and the temporal present. Even though mental presence is tied to the temporal present regarding location in and travel through time, it is shown that the distinction can be drawn both intra- and inter-subjectively. The temporal present can be discerned by its autonomous movement and its inter-subjective signicance. By virtue of the inter-subjective synchronization of the temporal present, presence as such is not purely subjective. Mental presence might have a root in the capability of performing intersubjective synchronization. The paper speculates that quantum measurement may be of partic...

Fractal Aesthetics in Architecture

by Wolfgang E Lorenz and Georg Franck

This paper deals with fractal aesthetics and proposes a new fractal analysis method for the perce... more This paper deals with fractal aesthetics and proposes a new fractal analysis method for the perceptual study of architecture. The authors believe in the universality of formulas and aim to complement the architectural description in terms of proportion. Although a well established fractal analysis method to describe the complexity of facades across different scales already exists, box-counting is imprecise because of too many inﬂuences coming along with the method itself. The authors consider the self-similarity as an important part of aesthetic quality in architecture. This is due to the fact that it describes a concept of consistency that holds everything together from the whole to the smallest detail which refers to the classical meaning of the word symmetry. Hence, a new fractal analysis method is introduced which so far has been applied to quantitative linguistics. Basically, elements of different order, called construct/constituent pairs, are counted and related in a formula. In architecture the pairing consists of likewise elements belonging to different orders, from the overview, the fundamental elements to the smaller details. As a conjecture, some preferable fractal dimensions (from the aesthetical point of view) are proposed for architectural structures.

Maschinelle Entwurfshilfen Was lehren Künstliche Intelligenz und Künstliche Kreativität über das architektonische Denken?

Praktiken, Konzepte und Medien in Architektur und Design Science, 2000

4. Mental presence and the temporal present

Advances in Consciousness Research, 2004

Celebrities: Elite der Mediengesellschaft?

Celebrity Culture, 2013

Die Dynamik des urbanen Raums

Stadt: Gestalten, 2012

Autonomie, marché et attention

Multitudes, 2014

Die Dynamik räumlicher Prozesse

Raumzeitpolitik; Opladen: Leske+ Budrich, S, 2002

Die gesellschaftliche Entwicklung der nachindustriellen Phase ist durch eine generelle Beschleuni... more Die gesellschaftliche Entwicklung der nachindustriellen Phase ist durch eine generelle Beschleunigung des Gesellschaftsprozesses und dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Informationsproduktion zur wichtigsten Quelle der wirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfung aufgestiegen ist. Hinter dem Beschleunigungsphänomen steckt die anhaltende Verknappung der Arbeits-beziehungsweise Erledigungszeit und die generell nachlassende Barrierenwirkung räumlicher Entfernung (siehe Wegener, Spiekermann 2002). Die Informationsproduktion wird zur Hauptquelle der Wertschöpfung, wo die repetitiven Prozesse der industriellen Fertigung durch überraschungsträchtige Prozesse des Herstellens und Herausfindens von Neuem in den Hintergrund gedrängt werden. Die Raumplanung hat sich auf diesen Wandel ihres Gegenstandsbereichs bisher nur unzureichend eingestellt. Nach wie vor sind statisch-komparative Vorstellungen und ein Denken in diskreten Zuständen vorherrschend. Auch in den Raumwissenschaften ist das Denken in Prozessen unterentwickelt. Einer der Gründe dafür ist, dass das Denken in dynamischen Kategorien auf Prozesse des Wandels eingeschränkt wird. Tatsächlich verlangt ein systematischer Übergang vom Denken in Zuständen zum Denken in Prozessen aber, dass Dauer und Wandel gleichermaßen berücksichtigt und gleichnamig beschrieben werden. Der folgende Beitrag versucht eine Klassifikation von Prozessen, die den Gegensatz von Dauer und Wandel in ein Spektrum kontinuierlicher Differenzen auflöst. Die Parameter der Beschreibung sind Reiz, Reaktion, Reaktionszeit, Wirkungsdauer, Wirkungstiefe und Reversibilität. In einer zweiten Betrachtungsebene wird die Stabilität räumlicher Prozesse untersucht. Mit Hilfe des Kriteriums Dämpfungscharakteristik wird die Robustheit von Strukturen in dynamische Kategorien übersetzt. 2 DYNAMIK RÄUMLICHER PROZESSE -STRUKTURKONZEPT "Evolution ist völlig offen, schnell und für jeden erkennbar und doch äußerst geheimnisvoll. ... Die Muster erscheinen hier einfach und dort komplex und manchmal so verschwommen, dass sie sich unserer Entschlüsselung entziehen, und alle wandeln sich, sogar von einem Tag auf den anderen, während wir zuschauen." Patrick Geddes: Cities in Evolution In seiner berühmten Abhandlung über Stadtplanung verwendete Patrick Geddes das Darwinsche Paradigma der Evolution zur Unterstützung seines Appells, die Natur von Städten besser zu verstehen. Für ihn umfasste die Analyse der Entwicklung von Städten drei Elemente: das Studium der Vergangenheit ("Whence?"), die Analyse der Gegenwart ("How") und die Vorausschau und Vorbereitung auf die Zukunft ("Whither?"). Die rationalistische Sicht der Stadtplanung hätte der Ausgangspunkt einer neuen Wissenschaft von der Stadt werden können, aber dafür war es zu früh. Selbst wenn Stadtplaner dem Rat Geddes' folgten "Survey before plan!", blieben die Analysen zumeist querschnittsbezogene Tabellen und Karten und hatten wenig Auswirkungen auf die nachfolgenden Planungen.

Prominenz und Populismus. Zu Pierre Bourdieus Ökonomie des immateriellen Reichtums

Berliner Debatte Initial, Bd, 2000

... Von dieser Verlockung bleibt die Produktion der Prominenz nicht unberührt. Charakteristisch f... more

A Proposed Relation Between Intensity of Presence and Duration of Nowness

by Georg Franck and H. Atmanspacher

Recasting Reality, 2009

It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. I... more It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. In the spirit of this idea, we hypothesize a relation between the intensity of mental presence and a crucial time scale (some seconds) often referred to as a measure for the duration of nowness. This duration is experimentally accessible and might, thus, offer a suitable way to characterize the intensity of mental presence. Interesting consequences with respect to the idea of a generalized notion of mental presence, with human consciousness as a special case, are outlined. Our approach includes some features consistent with other, related ideas which are indicated.

Presence and Reality: An Option to Specify Panpsychism ?

Panpsychism is the doctrine that mind is a fundamental feature of the world, existing throughout ... more Panpsychism is the doctrine that mind is a fundamental feature of the world, existing throughout the universe. One problem with panpsychism is that it is a purely theoretical concept so far. For progress towards an operationalization of the idea, this paper suggests to make use of an ontological difference involved in the mind-matter distinction. The mode in which mental phenomena exist is called presence. The mode in which matter and radiation exist is called reality. Physical theory disregards presence in both the form of mental presence and the form of the temporal present. In contrast to mental presence, the temporal present is objective in the perspective of the third person. This relative kind of objectivity waits to be utilized for a hypothesis of how the mental and the physical are interrelated. In order to do so, this paper translates the mind-matter distinction into the distinction between mental and physical time and addresses the problem that panpsychism tries to attack head-on in these temporal terms. There are, in particular, two issues thus getting involved: (1) discussions about a time observable and (2) the quantum Zeno effect.

On Conceiving Time as a Process

Time is a basic ingredient of the universe. It is the dimension of change. Change has two meaning... more Time is a basic ingredient of the universe. It is the dimension of change. Change has two meanings, however. There is real change in the sense that world states differing in date also differ in structure or function; and there is temporal change in the sense that states having been future become present and then past. In physics, only real change is acknowledged. Accordingly, time in physics exclusively is the dimension of real change.

Franck, collective intelligence

A Packing Problem, Solved by Genetic Algorithms

Journal of Universal Computer Science

An arbitrary number of points are arranged in a given twodimensional simply connected region such... more

A Proposed Relation Between Intensity of Presence and Duration of Nowness

Recasting Reality, 2009

It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. I... more It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. In the spirit of this idea, we hypothesize a relation between the intensity of mental presence and a crucial time scale (some seconds) often referred to as a measure for the duration of nowness. This duration is experimentally accessible and might, thus, offer a suitable way to characterize the intensity of mental presence. Interesting consequences with respect to the idea of a generalized notion of mental presence, with human consciousness as a special case, are outlined. Our approach includes some features consistent with other, related ideas which are indicated.

Physical Time and Intrinsic Temporality

Springer Series in Synergetics, 1994

Physical theories distinguish two notions of time: reversible, homogeneous parameter time (relati... more Physical theories distinguish two notions of time: reversible, homogeneous parameter time (relativity theory and quantum mechanics) and irreversible, directed time (thermodynamics). Both concepts differ fundamentally from what we define implicitly by using the tenses and temporal adverbs in language. The tempora past, present, and future hinge upon one uniquely exposed moment: the now. The now is the moment of actuality in the process of subjective awareness.

The wage of fame: how non-epistemic motives have enabled the phenomenal success of modern science

Gerontology, 2015

This paper ventures an economic view of modern science. It points out how science works as a clos... more This paper ventures an economic view of modern science. It points out how science works as a closed economy of attention where researchers invest their own attention in order to get the attention of fellow researchers. Attention thus enters economy in two properties: (1) as a scarce resource energising scientific production and (2) as a means of gratification rewarding the effort of the working scientist. Economising on attention as a scarce resource is another expression of thought economy. The income of expert attention is what gives rise to reputation, renown, prominence and eventually fame. By its being conceived as a closed economy of attention, science shows to be capable of self-organising a tendency towards overall efficiency and thus towards collective rationality.

Mental Capitalism

What People Want, 2005

Time, actuality, novelty, and history. Some facets of a phenomenon still awaiting comprehension

… of Socio-Economic Units, ed. by Jean Paul Cheylan/ …, 2000

Time is a fundamental dimension of experience. The experience we have of time itself is a notorio... more Time is a fundamental dimension of experience. The experience we have of time itself is a notorious source of confusion, however. It proves extraordinarily hard to distinguish between the objective and the subjective part of this experience. Evidence of this difficulty is the fact that, in the sciences, there are as many concepts of time as there are distinct bodies of knowledge. It depends on the phenomena a theory is accounting for which concept of time it works with. The concept of time appropriate to account for motion is not rich enough to account for life, the concept of time rich enough to account for biological life is too poor to account for conscious life. A classification of the sciences according to the definition of time implied renders a hierarchy of increasing experiential concreteness and decreasing formal rigour. The richer a theory's account of what we experience as time, the looser become its definitions. The higher the standards of precision in a field of theorising, the narrower becomes its notion of time. This trade-off throws a new light on reductionism. When looked at from the perspective of time perception, reduction to physical reality proves to abstract from an entire dimension of existence. The dimension disregarded by reductive methods is that of actual time as opposed to the dimension of real time. G. Franck: Time, Actuality, Novelty, and History 2/23 Time "Time" is one of the most frequently used nouns in English. Since the meaning of a word is what its use amounts to, it should be an easy exercise to say what time means. Nobody, however, has mastered this exercise satisfactorily until now. Even though we all know what we are talking about when using the word "time", we run into serious difficulties when asked to say exactly what we mean. 1 Of course, there are clear-cut definitions of "time". Time is a well-defined term in the physical sciences, after all. The problem with terminological definitions of time is that they do not express what we mean when using the word in everyday speech. The more rigorous the definition from an operational

I Competition in the Service of Self-esteem

Vanity Fairs, 2020

What Kind of Being Is Mental Presence? Toward a Novel Analysis of the Hard Problem of Consciousness

Mental presence is how phenomenal consciousness exists. The very existence of consciousness is wh... more Mental presence is how phenomenal consciousness exists. The very existence of consciousness is what gives rise to the so-called \hard problem of consciousness". In contrast to problems concerning the contents of conscious phenomena, the problem of their very existence has so far escaped detailed analysis. This paper ventures a new attempt, making use of the distinction between mental presence and the temporal present. Even though mental presence is tied to the temporal present regarding location in and travel through time, it is shown that the distinction can be drawn both intra- and inter-subjectively. The temporal present can be discerned by its autonomous movement and its inter-subjective signicance. By virtue of the inter-subjective synchronization of the temporal present, presence as such is not purely subjective. Mental presence might have a root in the capability of performing intersubjective synchronization. The paper speculates that quantum measurement may be of partic...

Fractal Aesthetics in Architecture

by Wolfgang E Lorenz and Georg Franck

This paper deals with fractal aesthetics and proposes a new fractal analysis method for the perce... more This paper deals with fractal aesthetics and proposes a new fractal analysis method for the perceptual study of architecture. The authors believe in the universality of formulas and aim to complement the architectural description in terms of proportion. Although a well established fractal analysis method to describe the complexity of facades across different scales already exists, box-counting is imprecise because of too many inﬂuences coming along with the method itself. The authors consider the self-similarity as an important part of aesthetic quality in architecture. This is due to the fact that it describes a concept of consistency that holds everything together from the whole to the smallest detail which refers to the classical meaning of the word symmetry. Hence, a new fractal analysis method is introduced which so far has been applied to quantitative linguistics. Basically, elements of different order, called construct/constituent pairs, are counted and related in a formula. In architecture the pairing consists of likewise elements belonging to different orders, from the overview, the fundamental elements to the smaller details. As a conjecture, some preferable fractal dimensions (from the aesthetical point of view) are proposed for architectural structures.

Maschinelle Entwurfshilfen Was lehren Künstliche Intelligenz und Künstliche Kreativität über das architektonische Denken?

Praktiken, Konzepte und Medien in Architektur und Design Science, 2000

4. Mental presence and the temporal present

Advances in Consciousness Research, 2004

Celebrities: Elite der Mediengesellschaft?

Celebrity Culture, 2013

Die Dynamik des urbanen Raums

Stadt: Gestalten, 2012

Autonomie, marché et attention

Multitudes, 2014

Die Dynamik räumlicher Prozesse

Raumzeitpolitik; Opladen: Leske+ Budrich, S, 2002

Die gesellschaftliche Entwicklung der nachindustriellen Phase ist durch eine generelle Beschleuni... more Die gesellschaftliche Entwicklung der nachindustriellen Phase ist durch eine generelle Beschleunigung des Gesellschaftsprozesses und dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Informationsproduktion zur wichtigsten Quelle der wirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfung aufgestiegen ist. Hinter dem Beschleunigungsphänomen steckt die anhaltende Verknappung der Arbeits-beziehungsweise Erledigungszeit und die generell nachlassende Barrierenwirkung räumlicher Entfernung (siehe Wegener, Spiekermann 2002). Die Informationsproduktion wird zur Hauptquelle der Wertschöpfung, wo die repetitiven Prozesse der industriellen Fertigung durch überraschungsträchtige Prozesse des Herstellens und Herausfindens von Neuem in den Hintergrund gedrängt werden. Die Raumplanung hat sich auf diesen Wandel ihres Gegenstandsbereichs bisher nur unzureichend eingestellt. Nach wie vor sind statisch-komparative Vorstellungen und ein Denken in diskreten Zuständen vorherrschend. Auch in den Raumwissenschaften ist das Denken in Prozessen unterentwickelt. Einer der Gründe dafür ist, dass das Denken in dynamischen Kategorien auf Prozesse des Wandels eingeschränkt wird. Tatsächlich verlangt ein systematischer Übergang vom Denken in Zuständen zum Denken in Prozessen aber, dass Dauer und Wandel gleichermaßen berücksichtigt und gleichnamig beschrieben werden. Der folgende Beitrag versucht eine Klassifikation von Prozessen, die den Gegensatz von Dauer und Wandel in ein Spektrum kontinuierlicher Differenzen auflöst. Die Parameter der Beschreibung sind Reiz, Reaktion, Reaktionszeit, Wirkungsdauer, Wirkungstiefe und Reversibilität. In einer zweiten Betrachtungsebene wird die Stabilität räumlicher Prozesse untersucht. Mit Hilfe des Kriteriums Dämpfungscharakteristik wird die Robustheit von Strukturen in dynamische Kategorien übersetzt. 2 DYNAMIK RÄUMLICHER PROZESSE -STRUKTURKONZEPT "Evolution ist völlig offen, schnell und für jeden erkennbar und doch äußerst geheimnisvoll. ... Die Muster erscheinen hier einfach und dort komplex und manchmal so verschwommen, dass sie sich unserer Entschlüsselung entziehen, und alle wandeln sich, sogar von einem Tag auf den anderen, während wir zuschauen." Patrick Geddes: Cities in Evolution In seiner berühmten Abhandlung über Stadtplanung verwendete Patrick Geddes das Darwinsche Paradigma der Evolution zur Unterstützung seines Appells, die Natur von Städten besser zu verstehen. Für ihn umfasste die Analyse der Entwicklung von Städten drei Elemente: das Studium der Vergangenheit ("Whence?"), die Analyse der Gegenwart ("How") und die Vorausschau und Vorbereitung auf die Zukunft ("Whither?"). Die rationalistische Sicht der Stadtplanung hätte der Ausgangspunkt einer neuen Wissenschaft von der Stadt werden können, aber dafür war es zu früh. Selbst wenn Stadtplaner dem Rat Geddes' folgten "Survey before plan!", blieben die Analysen zumeist querschnittsbezogene Tabellen und Karten und hatten wenig Auswirkungen auf die nachfolgenden Planungen.

Prominenz und Populismus. Zu Pierre Bourdieus Ökonomie des immateriellen Reichtums

Berliner Debatte Initial, Bd, 2000

... Von dieser Verlockung bleibt die Produktion der Prominenz nicht unberührt. Charakteristisch f... more

A Proposed Relation Between Intensity of Presence and Duration of Nowness

by Georg Franck and H. Atmanspacher

Recasting Reality, 2009

It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. I... more It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. In the spirit of this idea, we hypothesize a relation between the intensity of mental presence and a crucial time scale (some seconds) often referred to as a measure for the duration of nowness. This duration is experimentally accessible and might, thus, offer a suitable way to characterize the intensity of mental presence. Interesting consequences with respect to the idea of a generalized notion of mental presence, with human consciousness as a special case, are outlined. Our approach includes some features consistent with other, related ideas which are indicated.

Presence and Reality: An Option to Specify Panpsychism ?

Panpsychism is the doctrine that mind is a fundamental feature of the world, existing throughout ... more Panpsychism is the doctrine that mind is a fundamental feature of the world, existing throughout the universe. One problem with panpsychism is that it is a purely theoretical concept so far. For progress towards an operationalization of the idea, this paper suggests to make use of an ontological difference involved in the mind-matter distinction. The mode in which mental phenomena exist is called presence. The mode in which matter and radiation exist is called reality. Physical theory disregards presence in both the form of mental presence and the form of the temporal present. In contrast to mental presence, the temporal present is objective in the perspective of the third person. This relative kind of objectivity waits to be utilized for a hypothesis of how the mental and the physical are interrelated. In order to do so, this paper translates the mind-matter distinction into the distinction between mental and physical time and addresses the problem that panpsychism tries to attack head-on in these temporal terms. There are, in particular, two issues thus getting involved: (1) discussions about a time observable and (2) the quantum Zeno effect.

On Conceiving Time as a Process

Time is a basic ingredient of the universe. It is the dimension of change. Change has two meaning... more Time is a basic ingredient of the universe. It is the dimension of change. Change has two meanings, however. There is real change in the sense that world states differing in date also differ in structure or function; and there is temporal change in the sense that states having been future become present and then past. In physics, only real change is acknowledged. Accordingly, time in physics exclusively is the dimension of real change.

Franck, collective intelligence

A Packing Problem, Solved by Genetic Algorithms

Journal of Universal Computer Science

An arbitrary number of points are arranged in a given twodimensional simply connected region such... more

A Proposed Relation Between Intensity of Presence and Duration of Nowness

Recasting Reality, 2009

It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. I... more It is proposed to translate the mind-matter distinction into terms of mental and physical time. In the spirit of this idea, we hypothesize a relation between the intensity of mental presence and a crucial time scale (some seconds) often referred to as a measure for the duration of nowness. This duration is experimentally accessible and might, thus, offer a suitable way to characterize the intensity of mental presence. Interesting consequences with respect to the idea of a generalized notion of mental presence, with human consciousness as a special case, are outlined. Our approach includes some features consistent with other, related ideas which are indicated.

Physical Time and Intrinsic Temporality

Springer Series in Synergetics, 1994

Physical theories distinguish two notions of time: reversible, homogeneous parameter time (relati... more Physical theories distinguish two notions of time: reversible, homogeneous parameter time (relativity theory and quantum mechanics) and irreversible, directed time (thermodynamics). Both concepts differ fundamentally from what we define implicitly by using the tenses and temporal adverbs in language. The tempora past, present, and future hinge upon one uniquely exposed moment: the now. The now is the moment of actuality in the process of subjective awareness.

The wage of fame: how non-epistemic motives have enabled the phenomenal success of modern science

Gerontology, 2015

This paper ventures an economic view of modern science. It points out how science works as a clos... more This paper ventures an economic view of modern science. It points out how science works as a closed economy of attention where researchers invest their own attention in order to get the attention of fellow researchers. Attention thus enters economy in two properties: (1) as a scarce resource energising scientific production and (2) as a means of gratification rewarding the effort of the working scientist. Economising on attention as a scarce resource is another expression of thought economy. The income of expert attention is what gives rise to reputation, renown, prominence and eventually fame. By its being conceived as a closed economy of attention, science shows to be capable of self-organising a tendency towards overall efficiency and thus towards collective rationality.

Mental Capitalism

What People Want, 2005

Time, actuality, novelty, and history. Some facets of a phenomenon still awaiting comprehension

… of Socio-Economic Units, ed. by Jean Paul Cheylan/ …, 2000

Time is a fundamental dimension of experience. The experience we have of time itself is a notorio... more Time is a fundamental dimension of experience. The experience we have of time itself is a notorious source of confusion, however. It proves extraordinarily hard to distinguish between the objective and the subjective part of this experience. Evidence of this difficulty is the fact that, in the sciences, there are as many concepts of time as there are distinct bodies of knowledge. It depends on the phenomena a theory is accounting for which concept of time it works with. The concept of time appropriate to account for motion is not rich enough to account for life, the concept of time rich enough to account for biological life is too poor to account for conscious life. A classification of the sciences according to the definition of time implied renders a hierarchy of increasing experiential concreteness and decreasing formal rigour. The richer a theory's account of what we experience as time, the looser become its definitions. The higher the standards of precision in a field of theorising, the narrower becomes its notion of time. This trade-off throws a new light on reductionism. When looked at from the perspective of time perception, reduction to physical reality proves to abstract from an entire dimension of existence. The dimension disregarded by reductive methods is that of actual time as opposed to the dimension of real time. G. Franck: Time, Actuality, Novelty, and History 2/23 Time "Time" is one of the most frequently used nouns in English. Since the meaning of a word is what its use amounts to, it should be an easy exercise to say what time means. Nobody, however, has mastered this exercise satisfactorily until now. Even though we all know what we are talking about when using the word "time", we run into serious difficulties when asked to say exactly what we mean. 1 Of course, there are clear-cut definitions of "time". Time is a well-defined term in the physical sciences, after all. The problem with terminological definitions of time is that they do not express what we mean when using the word in everyday speech. The more rigorous the definition from an operational

Vanity is an intriguing motive for competition. Whether you take it to mean excessive self-regard... more Vanity is an intriguing motive for competition. Whether you take it to mean excessive self-regard or just craving for attention, it denotes a drive that is both strongly self-centred and eminently social. It is self-centred since it is, in the last analysis, pursuit of self-esteem; it is eminently social since the self-esteem we can afford depends on our income of appreciative attention. The pursuit of self-esteem thus includes that one has to compete for attention. Vanity fairs are socially organised competitions for attention.

Competition for attention is no one-way affair. You have to offer something if you want do be paid attention. This means that the organisation of vanity fairs can be functional regarding the generation of some sort of supply. Vanity fairs thus wait to be utilized by society as exchange systems where goods and services are exchanged for attention instead of money. Since the pursuit of self-esteem is both tending to high standards and highly capable in mobilising energy, vanity fairs wait to be utilized by society as markets for particularly challenging demands.

The paper goes into two cases in point: modern science and post-modern celebrity culture. Both scientific communication and advertisement financed media are information markets where information is not sold for money, but directly exchanged for attention. Scientists working for publication work for the ‘wage of fame’, celebrities are the new class of attention rich who live from the masses of attention collected by media leaving the exchange of information for money behind. Both science and media culture lie at the base of contemporary culture in economically advanced societies. The paper is on the constitutive role that vanity fairs play for this culture.