|
|
Why Time Seems to Move Faster as We Grow Older
01-03-2016, 01:43 PM
|
#1
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,266
|
Why Time Seems to Move Faster as We Grow Older
Here's an interesting article as to why older people often think time is moving faster than when they were young:
Why Time Feels Like It’s Flying By (and How To Slow It Down)
It's all about perception.
Quote:
“Time is this rubbery thing...it stretches out when you really turn your brain resources on, and when you say, ‘Oh, I got this, everything is as expected,’ it shrinks up.”
|
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
01-03-2016, 01:48 PM
|
#2
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,906
|
When I was age 5, a year seemed to be a really long time, it was 20% of my entire lifetime. Now it's not nearly as much.
|
|
|
01-03-2016, 02:01 PM
|
#3
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
|
Quote:
The older we get, and the more of the world we’ve seen, we start to develop a routine. The days start to blend together, and time seems to pass us by.
Psychologist William James concluded as much in Principles of Psychology. He explained that, compared with childhood, adulthood has fewer new and memorable experiences. We often measure time by firsts—our first day our school, first kiss, first home, first child—when we run out of firsts, James says “the days and weeks smooth themselves out…and the years grow hollow and collapse.”
...
“This explains why we think that time speeds up when we grow older,” Eagleman said-why childhood summers seem to go on forever, while old age slips by while we’re dozing. The more familiar the world becomes, the less information your brain writes down, and the more quickly time seems to pass. “Time is this rubbery thing...it stretches out when you really turn your brain resources on, and when you say, ‘Oh, I got this, everything is as expected,’ it shrinks up.”
|
Yes, that makes sense.
I think that means I should travel more. Two months traveling go by a lot slower than 2 months at home. I should also try making new dishes, try planting something new, etc...
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
|
|
|
01-03-2016, 02:54 PM
|
#4
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 10,941
|
I haven't read the article yet (but I will). But it seems to go faster to me now that I'm retired because I'm much busier doing what I want and there's never (well seldom) enough time. I also sleep more (catching up on what I missed all those working years, I guess)
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 01:10 AM
|
#5
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 640
|
Seems like only yesterday I started a similar thread:
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ime-75560.html
-
-
__________________
-
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."
--Epictetus
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 04:19 AM
|
#6
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: South central PA
Posts: 3,486
|
I think it is simply a fraction issue. When you are 5, a year is 1/5 of your life experience. When you are 50, a year is a much smaller fraction of your life experience-1/50. In the moments where you are really present, time passage feels the same, but looking back, it seems faster. I never look back and think, where did the last 5 days go, but can easily look back and wonder where the last 5 years went. This is universal.
Moment by moment, time passage may depend on new experiences, but not over a lifetime. Everyone notices time speeding up, no matter what their life experience.
The longest two weeks I remember experiencing were the first two weeks after my son was born. In that case, my perception was that I did not sleep more than 90 minutes at a time. So there was no significant gap in time when I was not aware of time passing.
Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 04:25 AM
|
#7
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare
When I was age 5, a year seemed to be a really long time, it was 20% of my entire lifetime. Now it's not nearly as much.
|
That's pretty much what I have long theorized. At age 50, a year represents only 2% of my life and only a little more than 2% of my memories and experiences (ignoring the first 2-3 years).
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 05:33 AM
|
#8
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 1,241
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Car-Guy
I haven't read the article yet (but I will). But it seems to go faster to me now that I'm retired because I'm much busier doing what I want and there's never (well seldom) enough time. I also sleep more (catching up on what I missed all those working years, I guess)
|
Righ., I am still working, but I always say when I am home- like at night or on the weekends- the time flies by. I almost hyperventilate because I see how fast my day is going and know I will not have time for the things I am doing. I actually get anxiety from this.
When I am at work- dreading the whole thing- the minutes seem like hours. I look at the clock and it barely moves. The weeks are so darn long! I hate it!
My retired, elderly friend always says she doesn't know where the time goes. I always say- I do! I am so conscious of every single darn minute! Not going fast enough for me! Which is a shame because I wish my life away! I am always looking into the future...
She always says- "enjoy each day". Not easy to do when work is taking up 11 hours of my day!
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 05:46 AM
|
#9
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
|
To make time move slower, just pick a date in the future to retire. It will take forever to get there....
Looking back though, it's not as slow.
__________________
FIRE no later than 7/5/2016 at 56 (done), securing '16 401K match (done), getting '15 401K match (done), LTI Bonus (done), Perf bonus (done), maxing out 401K (done), picking up 1,000 hours to get another year of pension (done), July 1st benefits (vacation day, healthcare) (done), July 4th holiday. 0 days left. (done) OFFICIALLY RETIRED 7/5/2016!!
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 08:37 AM
|
#10
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2,974
|
Dad had a saying when he got older: "These days, it seems like supper comes around every 30 minutes."
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 08:48 AM
|
#11
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by meleana
...My retired, elderly friend always says she doesn't know where the time goes. I always say- I do! I am so conscious of every single darn minute! Not going fast enough for me! Which is a shame because I wish my life away!...
|
... which is worse than what the Everly Brothers did when they sung
"Whenever I want you
All I have to do is dream
...Only trouble is
Gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away..."
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 02:29 PM
|
#12
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 956
|
I have always been fascinated with this topic. Even when I was young, I observed older relatives describe time issues. I finally concluded mid-life that it was largely a memory issue.
Now as I observe MIL with dementia, it seems to be a short-term memory issue. She can't really remember what happened at all last year, so everything seems to speed by.
I hesitate to say the last 2 1/2 years of ER have gone by quickly! Don't want to head down that path.
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 07:23 PM
|
#13
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 9,343
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr._Graybeard
Dad had a saying when he got older: "These days, it seems like supper comes around every 30 minutes."
|
My Dad has a different one...The days go by slow and the years go by fast....He is still pouting he cant work anymore. He thinks your supposed to work until you die, and is mad his body told him no more.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 07:59 PM
|
#14
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Syracuse
Posts: 3,502
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare
When I was age 5, a year seemed to be a really long time, it was 20% of my entire lifetime. Now it's not nearly as much.
|
+1
__________________
“No, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing"
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 08:37 PM
|
#15
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 484
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare
When I was age 5, a year seemed to be a really long time, it was 20% of my entire lifetime. Now it's not nearly as much.
|
That has been my lifetime view of the concept of the passage of time as well, and as I've grown older I am more firmly believing it to be true.
Concerning the perception of the passage of time, I think Einstein showed a remarkable ability to explain a complex subject in an easily understood manner in one of my favorite quotes; "To simplify the concept of relativity, I always use the following example: if you sit with a girl on a garden bench and the moon is shining, then for you the hour will be a minute. However, if you sit on a hot stove, the minute will be an hour."
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 09:03 PM
|
#16
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Bonita (San Diego)
Posts: 1,795
|
I often comment to DW that I want the next four-ish years to go by quickly, and she rightly reminds me that even though we're working all the time right now, we're still together and we shouldn't ever wish that time away.
__________________
"So we beat to our own drummer in the sun;
We ask for nobody's permission to run.
I just wanna live in a world like that;
Now I'm gonna live in a world like that!" - World Like That, O.A.R.
|
|
|
01-04-2016, 09:08 PM
|
#17
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,660
|
Time flies when you are having a good time.
|
|
|
01-05-2016, 07:46 AM
|
#18
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,232
|
Living in the Northeast, I noticed a few decades ago that "you know you are getting older, and time is going by too fast when even the winters seem short"...and it only gets worse.
|
|
|
01-05-2016, 08:41 PM
|
#19
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
|
What, no: "Time flies like a arrow, fruit flies like a banana"?
This crowd is slipping...
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
|
|
|
01-05-2016, 10:57 PM
|
#20
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
|
What do you expect from a bunch of geezers with presymptomatic Alzheimer?
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|