Different kinds of social system exist and develop in different time-configurations. This has important implications for the sustainability of their development. There are several different ways of perceiving and relating to time in addition to the scientific view of time as a linear succession of identical moments. Thus for some individuals, time is "meaning" as associated with particular events. Such differences in meaning constitute a form of temporal dissonance amongst the different systems in the world, affecting people, societies and ecosystems negatively when subject to forces requiring an acceleration of pace. They aggravate the perception that humanity is out of step with nature and is on a an unsustainable path.