The Timeless-Timely Spectrum
A mental model that can be applied to almost anything
Tl;DR: Here I present the timeless-timely spectrum, which can be used as a mental model for many kinds of things. In Part 1, I’ll give a bunch of examples. In Part 2, I’ll share some possible mechanisms for why things evoke a timeless or timely vibe.
1. Hitting you over the head with many examples to illustrate the point
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Information: People sometimes debate the relative value of reading books or news, but I think it is just a value judgment about where on the timeless-timely spectrum you want to fall. You can stay on top of current events and read the news. That’s timely stuff. But it isn’t timeless. Timely information decays in value very quickly. People do not typically read newspapers from two weeks ago. Or you can read (e.g.) philosophy books. Much of that information is timeless. It isn’t particularly relevant… Nor is it particularly irrelevant.
Goods: This timeless-timely continuum applies so easily to consumer goods that I won’t linger too long. Fashion is an obvious example. The idea of a ‘capsule wardrobe’ is extremely far on the timeless side of the spectrum. H&M occupies the helm of the timely spectrum.
Ideas: People who peddle in ideas—academics, writers, artists, etc.—have to think about this too. Particularly with research, I often wonder: What are projects I can do that are both highly relevant and highly timeless? Maybe the answer is: Just diversify. Have a timeless-timely portfolio.
Nature: Nature, itself, is replete with timeless and timely things. Natural beauty often falls on extreme sides of this spectrum. On the timeless side, seeing foggy mountains in Vermont at sunrise evokes a feeling of I can’t imagine this did not exist. Then there are rainbows. They vanish, and I get the opposite feeling. I can’t imagine this ever existed.
2. Some possible reasons why things feel timeless or timely
I still do not know exactly why certain things feel timeless or timely. Maybe it is all associative noise. But my (partially) working theory is this:
Timeless things either (1) really have lasted for a long time; (2) evoke an association with something that has lasted for a long time; (3) cannot be ‘placed’ in time.
By perfect symmetry: Timely things either (1) really have lasted for a short time; (2) evoke an association with something that has lasted for a short time; (3) can be easily ‘placed’ in time.
Mechanism 1: In some cases, like with nature, the plausible mechanism is time itself. Things that lasted for a long time can look or feel as such. This is true of mountains, leather, or tree bark. At least in these cases, the surfaces themselves embody the passage of time. Their marks and textures took time to develop.
Mechanism 2: In other cases, things somehow evoke an association with things that lasted for a long or short time. Brian Eno is particularly good at evoking timeless feelings (listen here). So are many shoegaze artists (listen here). Here, it sounds vaguely spacey—like you could find this on a tape deck duck-taped to a component from a free-floating satellite.
Mechanism 3: Some things just cannot be placed in a particular moment in time, and this makes them feel timeless. A great example is aphorisms. One of my favorites is “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” by Annie Dillard. I suspect that the reason why these little bites sound more timeless than (say) a whole paragraph is because they are stripped of context which would identify the time.
Anyway, this idea of finding mechanisms for associations is itself an overzealously timeless pursuit so I will stop here.