Why is time passing so quickly?
It is a phenomenon for everyone to think time is passing real fast? I realized the same thing after passing all those high school years. When I was studying in university, time flies like a sport car. After I have started working, time flies like a bullet. I asked myself – will my life goes just like this?
It is interesting to see some people asked the similar question.
Some answers within the thread are quite interesting, such as this one shows: anticipation slows down time.
… Not completely answering your question, but I have always noticed – even as a child – that when I am waiting for some future event to happen, time goes by like molasses. If I am thinking only of the here and now (like when I am absorbed in a project or something that keeps my specific attention) time flies by very quickly. This “quickening” can happen even if I don’t particularly like the event. A good example is putting out fires at work vs. watching the clock just before a long weekend holiday that you are anxious to start.
So, I think it is completely psychological in our method of percieving awaited events. I know as a kid I was always thinking of something in the future, be it the end of the school day (good) the beginning of the next school day (bad), Xmas morning, birthday, new movie coming out, vacation, etc. Something happening in the future was always more concerning than whatever was happening right that minute. As an adult I find that I worry less about future events and am very busy in the hear and now much more often…
For me, when my time and energies are used on loads of tasks and projects within my work and outside-work life, time are really going quickly. Main reason is that I do not count time anymore. This also proves why when I was a kid, time seems went slower, because I had nothing important to do. This can also reflect the more organized and focus I am, the quicker the time seems go. So it seems not a bad thing anymore.
Do you guys thought of this before? What are you takes on the reason?
Why is time passing so quickly? – [Ask Metafilter]
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Comments
brian says on September 16th, 2005 at 11:45 pm
I think our preception of time changes as we get older as well. Each year that goes by is a smaller percentage of our total years lived. So, aging from year 20 to 21, you’ve gained ~5% of your years. Aging from 39 to 40, you gain only 2.5%. It feels faster because it’s relatively shorter given you’re life experience.
It’s just like when you’re a kid and someone gives you a dollar, wee! a dollar! Now, if somoene gives me 100 bucks, I think – wee! that’s a small part of my house payment!
Conrad Benedict says on September 17th, 2005 at 8:25 am
I agree with Brian. I think there is a life ‘constant’ value. The time we are evaluating life divided by this constant gives us an absolute value. This value would diminish for each progressive evaluation we make over the years – giving us the impression that life is going by faster and faster.
Rick Falgione says on September 19th, 2005 at 12:57 am
Watch
In the beginning,
The chiseling slow second hand
Began subtly notching my clock face.
With youth advancing,
The grand dazzling sweep of minutes captured time.
Later, the stealthy surprising leaps of hours gave way to
Days, weeks, months spinning by in smaller and smaller windows.
Now, my ever-pressing need for another new watch notches time itself.
They sure don’t make watches like they used to.
Rick Falgione
Cedric Lessig says on March 5th, 2006 at 1:30 am
Time goes too fast for me. I’m already 22, and I think the reason time passes so quickly for me has to do with my autism. I feel that I’m growing old too fast. I still live with my parents when I could be living on my own. I also have a hard time seeing things from another person’s perspective, which is frustrating.
EP says on April 24th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
For some reason we have slowly just accepted time and its effects and we have accepted the fact that we are born we live and then die, what we must do is treat time as an enemy we are fighting a loosing battle with time. If we look at our existance and take into account the wastness of the universe our life is but a mear pebble in the wastness of infinity the minute time we are given at life should not be wasted, we should experince life expose our minds to everything possible not shut our selfs from the world and just waste away slowly untill times is up, the term life is too short should be on our minds every second, so that when chances arise you take them because if you dont then u will regret them and time will never give u that chance again be it telling that special girl you love her or telling ur familly that you are pround of them and proud to be part of this familly. if you exist just so that u can waste away untill time takes you then you are not living, take a look at your life if you are not happy then change it dont waste away from inside and then at your last hours regret being born, take every chance every opportunity that life gives you never live in regret and time will not have control over you because when time finally arrive for you, you can look it in the face and say i have lived.
Scott says on June 24th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Easier said than done……
Firegoblin says on September 1st, 2007 at 9:17 pm
When you run from time, it will swallow you like yesterday. If you run towards time, it will take you till tomorrow.
Seeker says on October 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 am
Every little pieces of Time is like pieces of gold but with gold you cant buy time.
seeker says on January 1st, 2008 at 5:46 pm
It is because we live in modern times(world)capitalism,time is money,we always run somewhere, to work for some big company or small it does not matter from 8am-18pm or longer we lose our life for what,for a few dollars more.How to escape from this i really dont know!Question is how will we use time which we have and what left from it,are we gonna spend our time on stupid things like watching TV all day long, or work for some slave chaser(boss,employer).We dont have time for family,friends,ourselves and GOD.We already fall down in groove which kill our Life and Soul.I will be honest with you dear reader of this comment and i will said one thing:I am scared and i despair.
seeker says on January 1st, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I almost forgot to say:Thank You “EP” for your inspiring comment.