What we call "time" is neither an a priori given of human nature nor an inherent characteristic of non-human nature, but rather an expression of a human synthesizing achievement. Elias initially strips the term "time" of the reification that clings to it in our substantive language use and demonstrates it as a symbolic representative of an activity, specifically the social activity of determining time. "The word 'time', one might say, is a symbol for a relationship that a group of humans, that is, a group of living beings with the biologically given ability to remember and synthesize, establishes between two or more sequences of events, standardizing one as a reference frame or benchmark for the others." These sequences of events serve as milestones in the continuous flow of occurrences.