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Slowing down time
P
Passerby
2 August 2007 15:29
Have you ever wondered why when you were a child, time passed so slowly? a school year felt like an eternity and summer holidays like a century.

This excellent article from the BBC explains why.

[news.bbc.co.uk]
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M
Minniemouse
2 August 2007 17:47
hmm...I'm not sure i agree with this theory. I like the way he describes children's experiences and the fact that they are more aware of their surrondings, however i see no point of comparison with what we experience as grown ups and i don't think that experiencing new things makes time move slowly, certainly not for me! in fact, it's completely the reverse as time tends to slow in pattern when i get bored or when i don't do much! but when i'm doing something new and exciting, i don't see time pass and the next minute it's over and i find myself wishing i could do it all again...Actually Passerby, you mentionned that summer holidays used to feel like a century, well not for me, I don't remember my early years as I wasn't really philosophising about my life as a kid grinning smiley but i remember my teenage years when i used to go on holiays with friends and do nice activities, time was flying then and the last days were always sad...
However, it's an interesting view and a good initiative to look at the past, reflect on the present and think of the best way to enjoy life better. It's the quality of life that matters not how many years you lived smiling smiley
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c
chelhman
3 August 2007 11:16
There's some truth in the article, take a week vacation in a remote area completely different from your everyday routine, different language, culture, food, sounds, smells...etc, when you're back, it feels like you've been away for much longer than a week. So it would confirm that when the brain absorbs much more information than usual, the perception of time stretches somehow.
However, let's say you spend a day working on a problem, sitting in front of your computer, doing the research...etc, by definition the brain receives an enormous amount of information to process, but somehow in this case, you would feel time went by too fast, especially if you haven't resolved that problem.

So maybe the surroundings play a major part on the perception of time, which would mean space AND time goes hand in hand when defining our perceptions. It can't be simulated either, the perfect example is when playing a PC game, the immersion is usually total with today's games, but here again, time would have gone so fast when you realized you've been playing for hours.
Speaking of time, I'm out of it, I still have to pack...smiling smiley
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P
Passerby
3 August 2007 12:31
Quote
Minniemouse
hmm...I'm not sure i agree with this theory. I like the way he describes children's experiences and the fact that they are more aware of their surrondings, however i see no point of comparison with what we experience as grown ups and i don't think that experiencing new things makes time move slowly, certainly not for me! in fact, it's completely the reverse as time tends to slow in pattern when i get bored or when i don't do much! but when i'm doing something new and exciting, i don't see time pass and the next minute it's over and i find myself wishing i could do it all again...Actually Passerby, you mentionned that summer holidays used to feel like a century, well not for me, I don't remember my early years as I wasn't really philosophising about my life as a kid grinning smiley but i remember my teenage years when i used to go on holiays with friends and do nice activities, time was flying then and the last days were always sad...
However, it's an interesting view and a good initiative to look at the past, reflect on the present and think of the best way to enjoy life better. It's the quality of life that matters not how many years you lived smiling smiley

It's true that when you are doing a boring job, times feels so slow and when you are doing something interesting time flies. No one is gonna argue with this, it's universal.

I think the author of this article is trying to make a different point here. Days can go by slowly but the month can go quickly nonetheless.

The scale is very important here. The author of this article is not looking at short timescales but longer ones.

Lets take an example: if you spend the last month doing the same thing every week. the same routine, gym, shopping, working, going out to the same places, then when you look back on this month it feels just like one week. (because the 4 similar weeks would have merged in your mind to just one)

on the other hand, if you do something different every week of the month, then the month will feel like 4 weeks again. The 4 weeks will not merge together.

I am totally convinced by this theory, funny how just the other day I was talking to a friend about how sometimes a month flies by when the days were so slow. and then I see this article.
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K
Kutchia
3 August 2007 23:32
What about people in jail? I wonder hoew they feel the time? Anyone who have tried that and whants to share their experinces smiling smiley
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M
Minniemouse
7 August 2007 12:43
Good question Kutchia.. I think it depends on the type of sentence. For instance, if someone has committed a horrible crime such as killing someone and was sentenced to death, I guess they will value each minute of their remaining days, they might also use it to reflect on their life and seek forgiveness from the people they hurt, some even find spiritual guidance and faith, and if they want to do all these things in a limited amout of time, time will pass quickly enough and they would want to extend days longer..

But if someone is condemned to spend the rest of their life in jail well…that’s tough! Just the thought gives me the creep and only god and these people know how time would feel like…if they can still grasp the notion of time!
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H
Hicham_A
7 August 2007 13:18
Kutchia & Minnie mouse

Your posts reminds me of some books written by some moroccans who were in jail during hassan the 2nd reign... namely Raiss who participated in the first putch 1971 and emprisoned in the horrible Tazmammart and Raouf oufkir who spent 20 years in Tammtaght and Bir jdid prisons, along with his family, Raouf oufkir wrote a book about this horrifying exprience "20 ans dans les prisons du Roi"

I remember reading the first book when i was in ouarzazat. at the time i was so unhappy about my life there.. but after reading this book i really felt happy to be free ... in his memories, he narrated in details how young and strong men turned into mere ghosts

what i remember from Raouf's book is the ability of Man to stretch the human limits, his capability to dig deep down his soul in order to overcome avec the most atrocious conditions... and to surpass the barriers that try to confine him within a certain scope of space or time

well, maybe if we ask them they would say they didn't mean all this tongue sticking out smiley
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