Interesting Article on the Perception of Time with Age

[Fedayeen]

http://everything2.com/user/Professor Pi/writeups/Why time appears to speed up with age

 

[Dimensional Transition]

This is just all very depressing to me... I'm already over half of my perceived life?

edit: This will probably keep me quite sad for a while now.
I'm wasting my awesome seemingly slow passing 16 year old life by being an anxious boring guy.
Why is school obligatory, why...

 

[Synchro]

Thanks, Fedayeen, for the link and the fascinating article.

At 60, I can assure everyone the phenomenon is quite real - my only hold on sanity at this point is the prospect of vastly extending my life with stem cell therapy; I completely understand how old people shut down their minds; you almost have to, to stand the strain -

and yet, even with my hopes, I find myself still thinking of myself as almost dead, it takes a conscious effort to remind myself I have a decent chance at a healthy 150, should my work succeed...and so do most people...

and this reinforces the concept I've had for decades that the real problem with our human world is that by the time people live long enough to acquire real wisdom, they get too old to risk anymore -

this is why young people try to change the world and mostly fail: they lack wisdom, experience, means - and mentoring.

And this is partly why we seem to need war: old rich guys who want more riches (why, I have never been able to fathom, but when considering human affairs, never discount the power of greed or inertia) and young guys who think they want to go into battle, or at least are unwilling to seem cowards and so do so against their better judgment.

If human life-span were extended to 150 healthy, vigorous years, I believe the world would be changed in very short order; for one thing, we'd have a vigorous population of grandparents with a long life still ahead who would be damned before they'd see their grandchildren killed in a war.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

This thread has been haunting me. I searched for a few minutes to find this again. Sorry for resurrecting it, but, damn.
Can somebody please ease my thoughts? I can't find comfort in the idea that as a 16 year old I'm already over half of my perceived life.
I've noticed that each year of school does indeed seem to pass faster, it's really, really scary. Is there anything one can do about this?

 

[smithcommajohn]

The phenomenon of time spinning faster and faster as we age is very much real. However, I really disagree with the idea that at 10 years old half your life is over. We don't really start building a memory until what, 4 or 5ish? I certainly never remembered anything before that, even as a teenager. I consider the life I've lived after 10 to be WAY WAY WAY more than half of my life thus far. I would put it at more around 85%. Their ideas and numbers are interesting, but I think perception is way more personal and subjective. The fact they chose 20 years old as an arbitrary age of when a year feels like a year is a testament to the subjective nature of time perception. They could have easily picked 10 or 30 and warped their little numbers either direction.

Don't stress it, DT. I can tell you that you haven't lived anywhere close to half of your perceived life yet (assuming you live to a ripe old age).

 

[Dimensional Transition]

It's just so intimidating... I mean, it's a pretty normal reaction for a young person to be scared of death, I guess. I really don't have peace yet with the thought of death. For a while I thought, but man... I haven't even had a relationship, I haven't had any offspring, I haven't accomplished anything significant, I'm not really satisfied with where I am at the moment... The thought that I'm over half of my life seems very dark.

 

[MissQuote]

I've decided I am slowing down time in my life this year. I am tired of it spinning past so quickly and now I plan on a nice slow lazy lovely summer with autumn at some prolonged end in the far reaches of forever.

 

[MissQuote]

Relativity is a bit subjective afterall, right?

 

[smithcommajohn]

I'm with you, MissQuote!

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

Most definitely a problem if one already has a low time threshold.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

Relativity is a bit subjective afterall, right?

(:

I think my mind is at ease now, with this thought.
It's just that when you're 10, a year is realitvely a very big part of your life, then when you're 50, it's only a small part. So you don't view years as these extremely long periods of time anymore. I've now decided to try and not fall into the trap of doing that, and that I'm going to try and view years 'objectively'. Which is probably impossible, but oh well. It's all good.

 

[Jesse]

I think this works because of memory. When you are young your mind grabs every detail hence time feels longer. The older we get the less detail in the world and the less we pay attention. Plus our mind gets older.

 

[MissQuote]

I'm with you, MissQuote!

Cheers!

(:

I think my mind is at ease now, with this thought.
It's just that when you're 10, a year is realitvely a very big part of your life, then when you're 50, it's only a small part. So you don't view years as these extremely long periods of time anymore. I've now decided to try and not fall into the trap of doing that, and that I'm going to try and view years 'objectively'. Which is probably impossible, but oh well. It's all good.

I think living in the moment slows things down to considerably pleasant pace.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I didn't understand anything until my mid-20s at the earliest. Give yourself a break.

Dave

 

[Causeless]

So what happens when you intend to live forever?

 

[MissQuote]

You get stuck halfway through eternity in a perpetual mid life crisis?

 

[smithcommajohn]

Maybe it would be like approaching the speed of light. As you got older, time would go faster and faster until it was infinitely fast causing some kind of time rift.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

You get stuck halfway through eternity in a perpetual mid life crisis?

Hahaha

I also think Jesse is right. When you're a little kid, almost everything is new and interesting, as you grow up, everything becomes more and more old and familiar, so you don't pay as much attention to the environment anymore, causing life to 'slip right past you' faster.

 

[JMAN86]

Hahaha

I also think Jesse is right. When you're a little kid, almost everything is new and interesting, as you grow up, everything becomes more and more old and familiar, so you don't pay as much attention to the environment anymore, causing life to 'slip right past you' faster.

Exactly how I see it.

When an individual is first introduced to an environment, like a baby, their brain needs to work overtime to continually process new information. This constant process might give the perception of increased time.

As we get older, our brain's response to our environment becomes more automatic. We tend to live in the same places, do the same tasks, eat the same foods, etc.

Even if we constantly change environments and thought processes in an attempt to slow time, trees are still trees, the sky is still blue, grass is still green, and sadness and happiness still feel the same. No matter where you go, your brain will probably all ready be familiar with what is there (thank you internet).

Enjoy the time you have regardless of how fast or slow you perceive it.

 

[Vecho]

So more than half my life is gone. I knew I should have left this damn forum on the day I found it. If I had discovered it later all the posts and thoughts would have taken less time but now... I must spend the rest of my life... Going to the depressed club...

 

[Linsejko]

My theory has always been that we think of time faster because we can remember more years in a more compressed period of time, making the present seem comparatively smaller. Does that make sense?

In other words, when I remember being 16, I do it in an instant. When I remember all my high school years, I can't remember the sensation of time along with that--the time wasn't felt. And in memories, time doesn't exist. And so this present year seems a smaller and smaller fraction of a growing whole.

And those numbers are definitely not concrete, and are definitely influenced by personal decisions.

EDIT: Just read the article. Ha! Basically exactly what I said, written into a formula. Funny.

Super loose, though, no studying... Purely conceptual. DT, don't sweat it--my years still seem really slow. Another thing hinted at in the article (and derived from common sense) is that time perception is relative to brain activity. Think strongly, actively, and never stop learning, and time will just keep going slow. I feel like 2011 is taking forever to pass, and it helps that I'm learning 3 languages aside from being in University, learning different kinds of dance, etc. LIVE! And then time will accompany you.

And maybe, just maybe, if you life well enough, you won't mind when death comes anyways.

 

[crippli]

Do a sex change at age 30. Perhaps this will give you another 40 years.

I believe the numbers are fairly accurate. Age 5-7 seems to be the age where childrens minds encompasses the most possibilities. From 9-10 it seems to limit itself more due to social restrictions. I'm not sure it's completely freefall further on, but believe it's a steady progressive recline if not measures are taken. 5 years old is the age of kids I enjoy the most to play with. When they reach 8 I find I don't relate to them much anymore. But when they are in this sphere of exploration I find I do and I tend to let them use my time as they wish.

 

[PhoenixofVindemiatrix]

No one realized this was a scam yet? Seriously? It comes highly recommended from The Journal of Irreproducible Results.

http://www.jir.com/