From personal experience, when I compare the passage of time in a day some years ago to the passage of time now, it seems to me that time is now moving faster. I barely get started on my day these days and before I know it, its the end of the day. Time just flies by these days compared to a few years ago.

Is time really speeding up and why? Or is it just an illusion?

asked 29 Nov '09, 12:33

Pink%20Diamond's gravatar image

Pink Diamond
29.2k73883


I have a theory about that. I call it the Theory of Novel Experiences.

Humans mark the passage of time by remembering novel events in their life, and noting the amount of time that has passed between them. When we are young, everything is new, exciting and memorable. But as time passes there are a greater number of things that we have already seen, done and experienced, and as we experience them again, they don't seem so novel or memorable anymore. Thus, there are fewer things with which we mark time, and time speeds up because, within a given time spam, fewer novel things have happened by which to mark time, and so time appears to have moved faster.

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answered 29 Nov '09, 16:59

Vesuvius's gravatar image

Vesuvius
32.7k951201

Isn't it fascinating? Normally the boredom about that there is not much new should stretch our sensation of time into unbearable lengths. ;-)

(03 Dec '09, 18:14) herzmeister

Only while you are experiencing it. After the fact, it seems like it slipped by without you noticing it. Anyway, if it's so boring that it becomes notable, well...

(03 Dec '09, 18:46) Vesuvius

That's what I thought as well. If there are less new experiences, your days would go slower or would they...nice concept though.

(03 Dec '09, 20:31) Pink Diamond
showing 2 of 3 show 1 more comments

I think time is speeding up but I really dont know; because when you are an child all you have to do is play, study, maybe do an few minor chores and this is how it is. But as you get older and you have an job, work or an business, you have an apt., a home which need cleaning up, food has to be prepared by someone, bills has to be paid, children have to be attend too and so it seems as an adult with responsiabilites there is not enough time in the day to get everything done.Especially if you don't have any help with all of this.

So maybe it is not speeding up it is just where we are now on the spectrum of time and there are so many more things that we must do during the day now that it seems like too much for us one person to do by ourselves.

I was thinking that the axles the earth is revoling around when the space ships went around the earth so many of times; I thought in my mind it might have speeded the earth up and got off a small fraction out of line and cause it to speed up.

But now I am beleiving it is just that we adult humans because of the work load, businesses, relationships, family, taking children here and there to the many practices and etc. that children just have a few chores, school, and play time and no worries are responsiabilities hardly at all ( but some children have an terriable childhood I am not talking about them).

So I don't think that time has speed up even though I use to say that all of the time. I just think we have place too much upon our selves without allowing for an break of relaxtion often enough and so we become burned out in time by being over worked, and have taken on too many responiabilities for us too handle that is all.

But some people need something constant to do and some people need an lot of down or relax time to even get focus and start anew for the next day, month or week.

Sorry, about the rambling my thoughts were all over the place on this one here for I have said the same thing so many of times.

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answered 30 Nov '09, 05:30

flowingwater's gravatar image

flowingwater
7.1k63197

edited 03 Dec '09, 01:37

I also know that the distance i use to walk to the shops as a child seemed long and far, but now that i'm a grown man, the same distance seems very close, and i guess as we get older it wil also seem far, this makes me thnk it has to do your age.

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answered 02 Dec '09, 05:35

Welsh%201's gravatar image

Welsh 1
311

It is all in perception I'm 43 and it seems like time just slowly goes on day in and day out one day the same as any other day.

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answered 29 Nov '09, 17:52

Wade%20Casaldi's gravatar image

Wade Casaldi
36.9k428102

It definitely has something to do with age ( I know that's an old adage, but I think it is a true one ). I agree with Vesuvius that the novel ideas have something to do with it; when we are young we tend to totally live in the moment and not watch the clock but fully enjoy the experience; so I wonder does the quality of the time spent have some thing to do with it?

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answered 29 Nov '09, 22:32

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Michaela
35.0k22277

I believe there is a collapse of sorts happening but to be brutally honest, this idea came from mish mash of accumulated book knowledge & from within. I can't find any reference point out there to verify if this concept is true or even possible.

Maybe you guys have stumbled upon something out there or within your own consciousness.

I believe that the Time we experience now is the gap created by the passage of time, between a vision focused in our consciousness and the resulting thought form manifested in reality, as an event (or circumstance, or experience, etc, etc, etc).

It seems like this time experience is what is beginning to collapse or narrow.

So that the gap between when you envision something (or pray to God for something), and for that vision (or prayer) to manifest is getting shorter.

This is why everything you are paying attention to, including all your worries, your responsibilities and all your dreams are manifesting, for you to act upon, all at once.

If this theory is actually true (which I don't know, because it can't verify it) then we are actually moving as a species towards an existence where eventually what we focus upon will immediately manifest as reality.

Fortunately, I'm very down to earth about this stuff, in that, I'm not going to lose my hair (oh wait I shave my head) over if this is true or if it's going to happen.

Why? because the same source within me that gave me this idea is telling me don't believe everything until you can experience it.

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answered 30 Nov '09, 03:52

The%20Traveller's gravatar image

The Traveller
19.5k11942

Interesting points.

(30 Nov '09, 13:09) Pink Diamond

I heard this explanation a few years ago, and it made a lot of sense.

Time seems to speed up as we get older because it is proportional to the amount of time we have lived.

In other words, when we are eight, a year represents an eighth of our total existence- a huge amount of time to a child. But when we are eighty, a year is only one eightieth of our existence- an amount of time we can do standing on our heads. To some people, time clocks away at the same speed as always; but to others, it seems to speed up because we simply have lived longer. I remember as a child waiting for Christmas...unbearable!! But now, time seems to gallop towards Christmas! I can barely get things done before it arrives.

That is just what I learned from someplace or other.

Blessings, Jai P.S. I can tell you, though- this is NOT true when you are in the hospital! Each day seems an eternity there....So perhaps happiness has something to do with it, too.

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answered 23 Feb '10, 13:52

Jaianniah's gravatar image

Jaianniah
37.8k13106607

yes, rani-time is speeding up and it has nothing to do with one ,s age. i thought the same thing, so i started asking people, of all ages, including children, and they all had the sense of time going fater. and as for welsh, of course the store is closer to you now than when you were a child- your legs are longer, you can walk faster-honestly , you didnt get the point of the discussion-but i did get a good laugh out it.i mean, as i write this -it is february 24-and it seems as new years was just a very short time ago. what it all means-i cant say with any sureness- but i feel its a good thing thing because christ said something about his father making the time shorter if all went right at a certain point-perhaps someone can pick up the thread here as to the actual biblical quote.its almost akin to the observation that people dont look as old as they did- my mother, at my current age, looked years older than i do now.whatever is going on-i can only say its a good thing. lets keep it up and improve even more.

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answered 24 Feb '10, 12:52

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eleanor sawitsky 1
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