Time seems to move quickly, come to a standstill, or slow down at various points throughout our everyday lives. It tends to race ahead as we age, while we perceive it as dragging when we are younger.
What causes
this phenomenon?
The reason
lies in the connection between how we process information and our perception of
time.
As children,
we encounter new experiences and events almost daily, which makes time feel
more expansive. In contrast, as we get older, we tend to have fewer novel
experiences and activities, leading to a perception that time goes by more
quickly. This experience of time perception is linked to how we process
information.
When we
encounter fresh information, time appears to slow down.
Engaging in
new activities stimulates information processing in our brains, giving the
impression that time is halting or moving slowly. However, if these activities
become routine, our brains stop processing new information in the same way,
which is why time feels like it speeds up as we age.
This concept
can be illustrated through an experiment: if you watch a new film or take part
in a cricket match, you might perceive time as moving slowly due to the
suspense or the novelty of the experience. Watching the same film again will
likely make time feel like it moves faster.
Similarly,
as you continue to age, your experience of time can feel increasingly
accelerated. The older you get, the smaller the proportion of your life you
have lived in the last year appears to be.
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