Joseph Henrich

And so it would ring the beginning of the day and breakfast and lunch and whatnot.

So the entire city would move in clockwork with the ringing bells.

And then eventually you get a clock face and things go from there.

That's right.

So clocks were a sign of town wealth and prestige.

Famous artisans would construct the clocks and clockmakers became an important occupation.

And they wanted clocks that were as good as the clock in Vienna or the clock in Paris, you know, competing.

Yeah, it really changed the economic and political system.

So legislatures would begin meeting at certain times of the day, and there were fines if you were late.

Contracts began to have exact dates when you had to have things due.

Witnesses were told to report at court at a certain hour.

So it really just reorganized the society.

And not only that, it was seen as a good and orderly life to live by the clock and have regular prayers and regular religious services and show up to work on time.

So punctuality began to be tied to probity, and all this was woven in with religion.

So of course, monks had long been timing their prayers using candles and hourglasses, and then they began to incorporate the clocks and the bells.

Yeah.

So this is a fascinating research coming out of economics.

And if you look at the few centuries after these towns throughout Europe adopt a clock, you actually see an uptick in economic growth in the centuries after the clock arrives.

So it's not an instantaneous effect because people actually have to adapt their thinking.

And it takes a long time to get used to thinking in this time thrift way in which we all, you know, we're all very tied to the clock and we've internalized it.