Does time seem to speed by faster the older that 'you' get?
- Thread starter HighlanderNorth
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When I die, I want to go like my Great Grandfather did, peacefully while sleeping. Not screaming like the rest of the people in his car did.
~ Chance
~ Chance
ElectronGuru
Flashaholic
Reminds me of two favorite T shirt designs:
Growing old aint for sissies
I will not tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death
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Thanks RNDDUDE, sometimes it's better to laugh than cry.
BTW, I think Norm understood your humor and was turning it right back on you. Think about it.
~ Chance
BTW, I think Norm understood your humor and was turning it right back on you. Think about it.
~ Chance
HighlanderNorth
Flashlight Enthusiast
Yeah, there are people who die in their beds, many while asleep. One of my all time best friends, Scott, was a bus driver, and his route went very near my home when I was living in the city, literally 1/2 block away on 9th street, where it bisected the city and came back on 8th street, also 1/2 block from my house. So about 2-3 times a week I'd catch his bus and ride up and back, get off and drive to work. One day he doesnt show up, which was VERY rare, so I called his house to sarcastically give him a hard time for being a slacker. His wife answers, crying, and when I asked what was up, she informed me he had died in the middle of the night, while asleep, of a heart attack at 42 years old. I didnt even know he had a heart problem and I dont know that he knew he had a heart problem, but his father had died of a heart attack just 2 years earlier, but he was in his late 60's at the time. So apparently it was a hereditary thing. He was fairly thin, was in seemingly good physical health and he went to bed thinking he was perfectly healthy, and never woke up.....
I subscribe to this theory as well. Now that I'm in my 40s the years seem to fly by. I hate to think what my 60s and 70s are going to be like.
flashy bazook
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Messages
- 1,139
OK, I think I have two theories about this that haven't been brought up so far.
One, it is related to a similar phenomenon, that you feel it takes a lot longer to get somewhere (e.g., when driving to a destination) than to come back to the same point you departed from.
The relation to ageing is that as you grow up you are in a sence getting to a "destination" while of course also discovering what the destination of your life is. But once you age, and you know where you are, in a sense you are now just returning back (to oblivion).
This phenomenon is natural and relates to our impatience as a species. Trying to get somewhere we are impatient and find any delays especially annoying. But getting back is a known quantity, we can find ways to entertain ourselves (e.g., listening to music because we no longer have to stress about finding the right way to the unfamiliar destination). There is less stress and aggravation. All of these things make us more comfortable and the passage of time seems less pressing and threatening.
My second theory has to do with the quality of life of the young vs. the old(er). When young, you continually have to do onerous things you dislike because you are told to. You have go to to school and keep studying or taking tests or whatever. And the reward is more school and more difficult tests. Then you start out working and you are at the bottom of the ladder, getting the worst tasks and being ordered about by everyone. You are also poor and you have the energy but not the money to buy great things or engage in wonderful activities. If you have kids, that adds to your stress level, energy requirements, money usage, and of course time sucking activities tremendously.
But, as you age, a lot of these stressors reduce and you can enjoy life more. You have money and you can pursue activities that you always wanted but couldn't. Time is more enjoyable and so passes faster. Time in a way is linked with things and activities you enjoy more. You are also more experienced in passing time in unpleasant activities (e.g., daydreaming during a boring meeting at the office, or when having to do some unpleasant acitivity on the farm).
To put in in yet another analogy, suppose you were starting a 20 year prison sentence. At first it would pass very slowly, but eventually you would get into a routine, maybe study a bit in the prison library while also doing some kind of jail trade, and time passage would accelerate.
So, two new theories, I wonder if they make sense to others!
One, it is related to a similar phenomenon, that you feel it takes a lot longer to get somewhere (e.g., when driving to a destination) than to come back to the same point you departed from.
The relation to ageing is that as you grow up you are in a sence getting to a "destination" while of course also discovering what the destination of your life is. But once you age, and you know where you are, in a sense you are now just returning back (to oblivion).
This phenomenon is natural and relates to our impatience as a species. Trying to get somewhere we are impatient and find any delays especially annoying. But getting back is a known quantity, we can find ways to entertain ourselves (e.g., listening to music because we no longer have to stress about finding the right way to the unfamiliar destination). There is less stress and aggravation. All of these things make us more comfortable and the passage of time seems less pressing and threatening.
My second theory has to do with the quality of life of the young vs. the old(er). When young, you continually have to do onerous things you dislike because you are told to. You have go to to school and keep studying or taking tests or whatever. And the reward is more school and more difficult tests. Then you start out working and you are at the bottom of the ladder, getting the worst tasks and being ordered about by everyone. You are also poor and you have the energy but not the money to buy great things or engage in wonderful activities. If you have kids, that adds to your stress level, energy requirements, money usage, and of course time sucking activities tremendously.
But, as you age, a lot of these stressors reduce and you can enjoy life more. You have money and you can pursue activities that you always wanted but couldn't. Time is more enjoyable and so passes faster. Time in a way is linked with things and activities you enjoy more. You are also more experienced in passing time in unpleasant activities (e.g., daydreaming during a boring meeting at the office, or when having to do some unpleasant acitivity on the farm).
To put in in yet another analogy, suppose you were starting a 20 year prison sentence. At first it would pass very slowly, but eventually you would get into a routine, maybe study a bit in the prison library while also doing some kind of jail trade, and time passage would accelerate.
So, two new theories, I wonder if they make sense to others!
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As a kid I often found myself wondering how adults could sometimes be so preoccupied that they completely blocked out that you were talking to them. Now as an adult, I have occasionally found myself so preoccupied that I have almost no recollection of what someone said or did. But as a kid I lived in the moment, and nothing went unnoticed. And for precisely this reason, a week could seem like ages. It's true what others have said here: you do get more jaded as you get older, and the newness of things wears off. But you also tend to think about the future and the past a lot more than the present. In other words, there are more things occupying your mind as an adult. As you get older, and your frame of reference grows, the number of things occupying your mind piles on. It's like reading a magazine or working on your computer while on a long flight, as opposed to just twiddling your thumbs for the whole flight. The more things that occupy you, the less you will pay attention to the passage of time.
HighlanderNorth
Flashlight Enthusiast
That makes sense, and probably describes why this is the case for busy people, but to be honest, my work doesnt require lots of travel, or any travel aside from maybe a 40 minute drive here and there. It doesnt require lots of after hours thought, except during tax season right now. I am not a busy guy most of the time. In fact, my business has taken a big hit since the recession began so I am not as busy as before.
So I have too many days off, like today because its raining and its winter. So I will run errands, do some stuff around the house, but mostly I'll watch tv and read posts here. So my mind is not completely preoccupied with life's issues. I also am not married and dont have kids yet, although I came very close to marriage several years ago. So I dont have those responsibilities.
When not working, I do use some of my time off to try and learn new things, or research or to do things that are kinda challenging, but not always. I also have hobbies that take up some time. But the point is, my mind isnt occupied with so many responsibilities like many other people with kids, a spouse, etc, yet time still seems to fly by faster the older I get. I do take the time to look around me and I dont take the little things for granted, just like when I was very young, but time still rockets by for me....
You may not have the busiest line of work, or the busiest life, but just by reading your post I can tell that there are a lot of things on your mind. You think a lot about the past and the future. And by that I don't necessarily mean that you spend half your time replaying the past in your mind, or the other half pondering your future, but everything you do in life is framed within your past experiences. During your day to day life you will reference these past experiences. This can be both an asset and a burden. In other words, it can help you avoid repeating past mistakes, but it can also hold you back. The human mind always has a tendency to explore the what-ifs: what if you had moved there instead of here? What if you had chosen that career path instead of this? What if you can't pay the bills? What if you had gotten married? What if you had had kids? What if you get hurt again? What if it never happens for you?
In addition to whatever may or may not go through your head during the day, you also have your work, errands, things to do around the house, your hobbies, browsing the web, posting on CPF, watching TV or learning new things to challenge yourself. If you think about, you actually have quite a bit going on at any given time, even on your days off.
It doesn't matter if you are a big-shot corporate guy, constantly on his cell phone and jetting off to exotic locations every week to close high-profile billion dollar deals; or if you are a part time worker with a relatively uneventful life, collecting flashlights and learning Klingonese; the number of things occupying any adult mind is far beyond the scope of a child's mind. A child doesn't have the life experience to frame most things that happen, or the mental faculties to analyze them. As a kid you live in the present, and the journey itself is far more consuming than the road ahead. The older you get, the more past experiences will crop up to frame what is happening in the present; and the more you know, the more you will worry about the future. Consequently, you will gradually spend less and less time in the present, thereby altering your perception of the passage of time.
In addition to whatever may or may not go through your head during the day, you also have your work, errands, things to do around the house, your hobbies, browsing the web, posting on CPF, watching TV or learning new things to challenge yourself. If you think about, you actually have quite a bit going on at any given time, even on your days off.
It doesn't matter if you are a big-shot corporate guy, constantly on his cell phone and jetting off to exotic locations every week to close high-profile billion dollar deals; or if you are a part time worker with a relatively uneventful life, collecting flashlights and learning Klingonese; the number of things occupying any adult mind is far beyond the scope of a child's mind. A child doesn't have the life experience to frame most things that happen, or the mental faculties to analyze them. As a kid you live in the present, and the journey itself is far more consuming than the road ahead. The older you get, the more past experiences will crop up to frame what is happening in the present; and the more you know, the more you will worry about the future. Consequently, you will gradually spend less and less time in the present, thereby altering your perception of the passage of time.
AMD64Blondie
Flashlight Enthusiast
Tell me about it.Seems like I was just 19 turning 20.
(Now I'm 29 staring down 30.)
Where did my life go?
(Now I'm 29 staring down 30.)
Where did my life go?
