Technology and Temporal Disruption
Review of Philosophy and Psychology March 3, 2026 Mads J. Dengsø
Human temporality and temporal cognition have always been hybrid structures that combine biological and sociotechnological components. Contrary to common assumptions that modern sociotechnology causes temporal disruption through integration, disruptions actually result from the disintegration of these biological and sociotechnological components. Drawing on neuroanthropology and neuroscience of temporal cognition, the paper argues that human temporal capacities like memory and sense of time have always been partly sociotechnological. Reviewing sociological research on technology and time, recognizing this hybrid structure provides theoretical resources for identifying and addressing temporal disruption.