Why time flies

[pokerfan]

I was thinking about this the other day...

We've all heard it said. As kids, adults talked about how fast the years were flying by. For us, an hour was an eternity. Boy, I am so feeling this at this point in my life. As I was looking around for scientific explanations, I came upon this web site which gives an interesting theory. What do you think?

Logtime: The Logarithmic Explanation

Since the linear view of time perception seems inadequate, it is reasonable to look for a non-linear alternative. The observations we make about the apparent shrinkage of our years as we age strongly suggest a logarithmic scale: stretched out at the low end and compressed at the high end.

That our time perception should be logarithmic can be easily rationalized (although proving it is a different matter!). The simple premise of Logtime, from which the logarithmic relationship can be derived (see Appendix ), is that the human mind judges the length of a long period of time, such as a year, by comparing it with current age. For example, a year adds 10% to the life of a ten-year-old, but only 5% to that of a twenty-year-old. For the twenty-year-old, two years are required to add 10%.

The Logtime hypothesis is that it is this percentage that we perceive, not the years themselves: to the twenty-year-old, two years will seem to pass as quickly as one year will seem to the ten-year-old. Similarly, three years to a thirty-year-old and four years to a forty-year-old, etc., will seem to pass equally fast. (This argument was recently found to have been used, comparing a "child of 10" with a "man of 50", by Sorbonne professor of philosophy Paul Janet, date unknown but quoted in an 1890 book by the eminent Harvard philosopher and psychology pioneer William James , who seemed to accept the description but added his own explanation of an underlying psychological cause which would be difficult to analyze quantitatively.)

http://journeythroughgrace.blogspot.com/2007/11/time-does-fly-does-it-not.html

If this hypothesis is true, then our perception of time looks something like a slide rule:



Note that logarithmically speaking, 32 (10*10^0.5) is halfway from 10 to 100.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Well, I am so old tha........

[tridim]

2. I wonder if it works for species who don't know they are mortal?

I bet my dog percieves time as linear.

[bpcmxr]

3. I agree

The older we get, the same unit of time (a single year, say) becomes a smaller and smaller fraction of our experience.

[JuniperLea]

4. My dad explained this to me when I was 10...

And said that my summer vacation seemed to be lasting forever:)

[T Wolf]

5. I remember reading something a while ago alluding to the theory that "time" does not really exist.

It stems from the calculations that underlie upper-level physics.

It seems, that when the "time" factor is eliminated from many equations, they work.

This would be consistent with the notion that time is a human construct created to help us deal with our perceptions of reality.

see http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/in-no-time for a more scientific explanation.

Cool idea.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. And yet all of us CHOOSE to get older and die.

[pokerfan]

10. Yeah, this only applies to subjective human experience

Thanks for the link.

[no limit]

17. Tell that to GPS satellites that see time differently from us and have to be adjusted as a result.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. What does this theory say about the need to walk to school uphill in the snow on broken glass? (nt)

[FiveGoodMen]

7. I think it might be connected not just to percent of life already lived...

but also to frequency of changes.

When you're young, you learn to walk, then to talk, then you make friends with other kids (your first socializing experience), you grow, you hit puberty, you get your license to drive, you become an adult, and on and on...

Looking back on any part of those first twenty years, there are always major changes underway.

Now I'm 50 and -- apart from politics -- all I see changing in the last 20 years is me getting gradually older. There aren't nearly as many milestones.

[mikelgb]

9. I was just wondering if there were any scientific study of this phenomenon

weird

thanks for posting

[pokerfan]

13. Google scholar gets some hits

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=logarithmic+time+perception+Weber+Fechner

[DavidDvorkin]

11. This is descriptive rather than explanatory.

[redqueen]

12. I thought it might be more due to metabolism.

From what I understand, creatures with faster metabolisms perceive time's passing as being more slow. So, for a hummingbird, time seems to slow down. Conversely, for creatures with slower metabolisms, time seems to pass more quickly.

After learning that, I just kinda figured that the same thing happened to humans as they aged and their own individual metabolic rates slowed down.

Interesting stuff.

[Newest Reality]

14. What is fascinating in relation to that phenomena

is that time and space are inseparable philosophically and scientifically, yet, we have the tendency to separate and isolate the two as if they are not.

That is an interesting hypothesis. The subjective nature of our experience of time is a curious subject, but I think many of us can agree that our perception of it is flexible and does change ... over time ;)

What is also common is the relationship of the experience of duration in relation to the type of experience we are having. I think many of us can relate to how long it takes to wait in a Doctor's office for your appointment versus having a great time at a party, or such. What might be an hour in the waiting room can seem like two, while four or five hours of having a great time, expo facto, can pass in a flash. One also notes that being occupied and focused on a task causes one to lose track of time and it passes quickly, whereas being idle or bored can drag out the hours.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. It's simple: Time exists so that everything doesn't happen at once.

Similarly, space exists so that everything doesn't happen to you.

[cdsilv]

16. Time is relative.

Sit on a hot stove for a minute and it SEEMS like an hour.

Sit in a pretty girl's lap for an hour and it SEEMS like a minute.

This has been attributed to Einstein, but I really don't know where it comes from.

[no limit]

18. I love to think that one day we will find a link between time in space and how we see time.

In space how fast time goes depends on your speed. How fast the time in your head head goes depends on how much fun you are having. I would think there has to be a connection.

[Festivito]

19. Naw, we're just further between memorable events.

Most events are memorable because they are new. Now that I am older, been there, done that, rules my timing.

Try to actually go over all the wildly new events we read here on DU and it can seem to take an eternity. Enough so we literally don't keep it all in mind. I can't start listing the things I've read here, but, get me started and suddenly it floods out -- and time stands still, almost.

[RagAss]

20. Maybe our perceiving consciousness exists outside of spacetime.....

Seems to me if it were "in spacetime" we wouldn't notice any passage of time at all.

[gooey]

21. Does time even exist?

I was under the impression it did not. Help?

[unhappycamper]

22. Tis true.

There are few things in the morning that will get you focused faster than an incoming mortar round. Time does seem to stand still.