J.B. Priestly, author and playwright. Priestly was fascinated by time, a theme that dominates many of his plays. He believed that there were three kinds of time and three selves to experience them--a "self one" that is active when we are awake, a "self two" that observes the world passively when we are asleep or half asleep, and a "self three" that observes everything in a detached fashion. The corresponding times are ordinary time, experienced during such routine activity as waiting for a bus; inner time, experienced during moments of contemplation; and creative time, which is what the name implies and is experienced only rarely.