The Difference Between the Now and the Present
The “now” may be understood as a momentary, point-like cut that has no duration or succession of its own. By contrast, the present is a living and extended interval-whether in terms of objective time or ontological time-within which experience unfolds. This unfolding is the condition that makes the formation of the past and the future-or the future past -possible. Therefore, when we say that the present has Temporal Precedence over the past, we mean that the past can only be constructed and consolidated upon the ground of the present. Without the present, nothing that could be called the past would emerge.
By the Zurvan Object, I mean any internal or external object capable of creating a temporal tunnel through which the subject can move out of the present and connect the two temporal positions of past and future, thereby allowing a sense of the passage of time to emerge and anxiety to diminish. As I have previously explained (Pajoohandeh, 2020, 2022, 2024, In press), the original name I used for this concept was the “Transitional Time Object,” which emphasised the transitional function of the object, since this function initially appeared to me to be of primary importance.
With further reflection and closer examination, however, I came to recognise that this object possesses several other significant functions, which I will discuss in subsequent posts. Another possible name for this particular function would be its rescuing or savior function. This refers to the fantasy that a savior will appear under the most difficult conditions-a fantasy that seems to be nearly universal.
To Be-Analysis