Most things are logarithmically scaled, including our perceptions.
Having 1 -> 5 apples is a large and easily comprehensible change, but most people probably rapidly lose interest having beyond more than 5 apple.
Similarly the first few birthdays you experience are much more exciting, with the importance rapidly diminishing as you hit milestones. A lot of people start forgetting how old they are in their 20s; the ones that do are mostly due to dating apps.
most people probably rapidly lose interest having beyond more than 5 apple.
Each decade of age took me half as long as the previous one did.
0-10 took forever
10-20 took 20 years
20-30 took 10 years
30-40 took 5 years
And I fear it only gets worse.
Long COVID was actually just me turning 40 and losing track of the years.
Although, I’ll say that your perceptions can re-normalize when you have a little guy in your life. Like, people tell you “your kids will grow up so fast” but I’m feeling every single day of the Terrible Twos.
I keep forgetting that I’m 37. I could swear I was 27, like, yesterday.
I’ve got a coworker in his young-20s who admitted to being “ageist.” When he heard my age he reacted weird, saying something along the lines of not caring about people 30+.
I wasn’t offended. I simply told him, “You’ll be there before you know it.” My other coworkers (also 30+ years old) backed me up. Dude can enjoy his time now, though from his response I suspect he might have a fear of aging that he’s not fully come to terms with yet.
It does. I’m far closer to dying than living. I maybe have 10 more years, 15 if I’m lucky, (a debatable form of “luck”).
You just do nothing worth paying attention in these periods
“Nothing” is a bit of a stretch, but it’s true that milestones pretty much stop happening for much of adulthood. I’ve traveled, I’ve dated, I’ve moved and changed jobs. But I don’t want to fall into a rut, so I’ve been working to give myself a new “milestone” every year. Last year I achieved a key certification for work. The year before, I learned to identify every country on a map. The year before that, I learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube. Other things have been learning to knit, identifying every nation’s flag, and learning to fly an airplane.
I’m not sure what to aim for this year, but I’m open to suggestions.
It’s nothing compared to learning to walk, talk, and resist existential dread.
Having said this, I must admit that you live pretty full life
TIL: forever/2=20
Imagine how long their pregnancy took
I dunno man I’ve done a lot of living in those years. Turn 50 this year and still going strong. On a week long camping trip that we just got set up at 11 pm. Can’t wait to hit the lake tomorrow.
I think what makes time really fly is boredom. Not necessarily like, waiting for a train or whatever, but more like “I do the same thing every day” exhaustion with life. The past couple of years have flown by for me but it’s 100% because I don’t like my current job and I don’t do a lot else recently. The more I like my 9-5, and the more the rest of my life excites me, the more memories I get and the longer time seems to take to pass.
It’s no surprise that for most people this happens in your late teens/early 20s, you’re meeting new people all the time, you maybe go to university, you go to parties, and so on. If you stop doing that as you get older and don’t start anything else its inevitable that time will just start to get away from you.
Can confirm, the past 3 years felt longer than the 10 years before that because I transitioned, stopped being depressed, and started doing cool stuff like activism.
I agree with this. I’m nearing 60 and I feel like I should be over 100. I’ve done a lot of different things and had different careers in my life, lived in many different places with different sets of friends etc., not just doing the same thing day after day and living in the same place.
Also, no kids, although this point is kind of the opposite of the other point. I think when you focus on kids you watch their lives flash by; they’re in their twenties in no time and you’ve lost that many years yourself.
Can confirm. Years flew and I don’t even remember much.
The fact that you can legally drink at 21 has something to do with this phenomenon.
That implies you didn’t illegaly drink before 21.
Uh no I would never think of that officer
Why we are afraid of revolution man
Yep
I read an article saying that as an adult you stop doing as many unique and memorable things as an adult. It’s mostly the same places, people and things. So when you go do different things and make memories, you’ll have more “milestones” in your life
My theory is it’s time as an overall percentage of your life affects your perception of the length of any duration.
When you are 4 years old, a year is an entire quarter of your life. That’s a long time. When you are 50, a year is only 2 percent of your entire life.
This is why when I was a kid being grounded for a week was like an eternity. And also I feel like I would get bored a lot and didn’t know what to do with my time. Now it’s like there’s not enough time in the day. And I’d rather just go take a nap than find something else to do.
Could you imagine getting grounded from work for a week? That would be fantastic.
I bet I could get grounded from work for the rest of my life.
That’s why, in every new place I get, I strip naked and run around shouting GERONIMOOOO
But if you do it everywhere you go, it stops being unique. You’re falling right into the same trap unless you occasionally shit on the floor as well.
No, you misunderstood him. He does it to help others make milestone memories.
Truly a gentleman and a scholar.
A sacrifice we need, but not one we deserve.
Uh… other way around maybe? 🤪
So that was you. Thanks for covering my jibblies for me while I was running naked, they are quite disgusting.
Ah, but that’s just the same person doing the same thing.
As a child then every year is purposefully pointed out. School education years, birthdays, clothes for your age, siblings being older/younger.
As an adult when you stop paying careful attention then time all merges into one mass. Age doesn’t really matter much and certainly isn’t pushed in your face constantly. It’s easy to keep doing repetitive things at work and home and before you know it then another 4 years go by without you keeping track. I did a job with a very extended period of postgraduate training (10 years). Then again there was a constant interest in your year of training and what stage you are at. Even other events in life are better bookmarked (that happened when I was in year 5 of my training).
If you’re more mindful of the time, then it seems to pass more slowly and is better delineated.
That “theory” is very false (edit: at least to how we experience time in the second/now). It only applies to memory. And only then because our brain is evolved to keep us alive, not serve a completely accurate measure of time passage.
Lacking in novelty, our minds compress memory. Best explanation I’ve heard, and it’s seemed true… years where I am not doing very much, it’s just a few surface memories unless I dig. But years where I am busy as hell, it’s like being overrun with memories thinking of those times. As we get older, we experience less novelty. Living in a cube, living in a rut, yes that’ll make time slide by like nothing else. Avoid it at all costs.
Hmm, so if life and/or job is not exciting, the percieved time is fast?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301344855_Time_perception_and_age
I thought there were others like this, too. I would expect one named Kairos to explain why this doesn’t apply.
Oh, hm. Different definition of “perception of time”.
Lies. The brain evolved to be a sophisticated blood cooling device
Found Grover Krantz’ lemmy account!
Fun fact: Krantz was the originator of the so-called “running man” endurance hunting theory, but he was better-known as a firm believer in the existence of Bigfoot. Also, his skeleton (and that of his favorite dog) are on display in the Smithsonian for some reason.
One of my organs is in a museum, and I do love Bigfoot stories…
In the wise words of Steve-O:
”IF you’re lucky"
shut up
YOUR BODY BETRAYS YOUR DEGENERACY.
YOUR MOUTH MOVES BUT THE ONE WHO SPEAKS IS AL GUL. YOU ARE BUT A VESSEL FOR THE GHOUL NOW. VERY LITTLE OF YOUR SELF REMAINS.
What the fuck
It do be like that tho
This is an attack on me personally
Me irl
Yeah, but some of y’all get a family/families in that blink. Well, some even strat wars or enshitify a whole industry. Anyway, the moral eco-friendly thing is to just have the eyes closed & not move for that time.
