The reason I am focusing on the present orientation in this blog post as I have most of this project so far is because it is close to my heart. I promise I will delve into the other time orientations in the string of blog posts to come.
Present orientation allows one to enjoy life and live for the moment. One notices more and feels more instead of worrying about what is to come. Studies have shown that when one is present oriented they literally take the time to smell the grass. One who is present oriented is also more prone to enter into a state of “flow.” Flow is when a performer of a speaker is most involved in the particular speech or performance and if feeding of the crowds reactions. They are completely there and it results in the best public speakers and performers, someone who is holistically invested in exactly what they are doing right then. Present oriented people are also a more creative. Since when they create they are less worried about the product and more into the process. When future oriented people created, they are more worried about the product and how it will be evaluated, so in a feedback loop it stems their creativity.
However there are a lot of down sides to present orientation. To start with research conducted on students in east coast, west coast high schools, Cornell and Stanford on students high in present orientation show that they are more likely to race cars, drink, abuse substance, drive while drunk and while not wearing seat belts. Other studies show that people of present oriented are less likely to floss, get regular checkups and screening, and eat healthy if they don’t like they way the food tastes. They also can get addicted to things really easily. The determent of any of these things is pretty clear from an early death to a messed up addicted life. Whereas these traits are all but nonexistent in strongly future oriented people.
There is the good and bad summed up really quickly. Obviously time perspective is more complicated than that and less black and white as people are mixtures of perspectives.
