VIRTUOSOS OF ANIMAL INDOCTRINATION: TIMER

[Korpsy Knievel]

Time for Timer was the collective title for a short series of public service announcements broadcast on Saturday mornings on the ABC television network starting in the early 1970s. The animated spots featured Timer, a tiny (often verging on microscopic) cartoon character who represented the sense of "time" in the human body. Timer was in charge of when a person felt it was time to eat, time to sleep, etc. He carried a large pocket watch inside of him, which would often set off an alarm whenever something was about to happen.

Usually wearing a bow tie and top hat, Timer looked somewhat like a little yellow blob with long arms and legs, and a face. Timer also had limited magical powers, such as instant transportation, which he often used to exit his host body from time to time if things got too exhausting. A wise-cracker as well as a song-and-dance man, Timer promoted healthy eating and personal hygiene for children, using clever songs and animation.

- wikiwikiwiki

[Korpsy Knievel]

[mikesilb]

This is some really funny shit! Totally love it! Keep 'em coming (either here or in other threads)!

[Korpsy Knievel]

This is serious socionics business, and it presents something of a conundrum. If Ni pertains to apperception of time and Si pertains to that of bodily experiences, what to make of Timer, who represents the sense of time in the human body while also stressing the importance of proper nutrition and hygiene?

[mikesilb]

Ah. I see the paradox that you are talking about. To me, it smacks of conscious/valued Si with an unconscious/unvalued Ni...since the main focus seems to be preparing foods that fit specific nutritional and biochemical needs at given times (especially when the body is craving for specific nutrients).

As a biochemist, I know that as long as a given foodstuff/substrate is present in our bodies, as long as there is also the presence of the corresponding enzyme to either break that substrate down (catabolism) or build it up to form larger macromolecules (anabolism), the enzyme will perform its catalytic function regularly/spontaneously without requiring the body to plan for the enzyme to do its job. Thus, I consider Timer to serve as more of a spontaneous/immediate sense of what the body needs in a / style rather than a / style.

I will ponder this paradox more in the next day or so...but as for now this is my first impression.

I still think that he is a funny dude!