Why does time go by faster as people get older?

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Why does time go by faster as people get older?

My days seem to drag a bit lately. Maybe our universe is bottlenecking through two other parallel universes, causing time to move more slowly.

Well, look at people who are in their 80's, its racing by for them. I could be wrong on this but isn't as we learn more we have to dedicate that much more of our brains to memory, nerves start self-pruning synapses as demands get steeper and - wallah! We lose acuity.

Time goes by faster because we grow used to it, making each second less significant.

Creatures with nervous systems and memories function by reacting to their environment in established nervous system patterns. When we are young and inexperienced each encountered situation must be faced as an original experience and a reaction pattern must be invented to deal with it. This takes conscious time. Thus is established a menu of standardized patterns to deal with situations. It is the equivalent of computer macros where one complex reaction can be initiated by pressing a key devoted to a chain of reactions. As we grow older it is no longer necessary to be conscious of many complex reactions as a simple starter command will initiate an established unconscious pattern and the time necessary for this to take place is no longer noteworthy. As in learning to drive a car, initially each proper action to obtain a desired result must be thought out carefully and controlled. Once the nervous macros are established the complex chains of reactions are no longer conscious and the time span for their accomplishment is no longer noteworthy. They take time but the time required is not noted consciously and therefore the time "passes" much more quickly. I am over 80 years old and I have formulated multitudes of automatic reactions and all I have to do is initiate a desire and the reactions take place automatically. Unfortunately, like many people, I sometimes forget the initial link or motivation for setting up the automatic reaction and I find myself before an open refrigerator or closet or drawer wondering what the hell I am looking for. The time for setting up the chain reaction seemed to take place instantly and thus passed unconsciously and time has "sped up".

Does seem to go by awfully fast. Yesterday I was looking at pics from 2005 and couldn't believe that it had been that long!! !

It's not fair we all have to get old and haggard looking the "longer" time goes by. I really don't look forward to the future these days...

At two years old, time is a long time... one year is half of your life.

By ten, it's only a tenth.

By fifty, it's one fiftieth (a pretty tiny bit).

Life speeds up because the timeslices become smaller in comparison to our overall experience.

(perhaps).

Some would say time is actually moving faster.

Still, most of the phenomenon is perception.

A kid waiting for his birthday or Christmas thinks time crawls. A person stuck in a daily routine sees time fly.

Bored? Time crawls.

Busy? Time speeds by.

It's to do with time perception. If lots of stuff happens (stuff that interests you), time seems to fly while things happen, but when you remember later, the time seems to be long. So the minutes fly past, but the days seem long. When you're young, there are more things that are new and exciting. You are likely to perceive time this way.

Time seems to crawl by if nothing much happens but when you later remember then the period seems to be short. The minutes drag by but the years just fly. When you're old you are more likely to be jaded and bored. You are likely to perceive time in this mode.

You can get to a more detailed explanation if you listen to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/frontiers_20060517.shtml.

This is really a science question, not one about philosophy, politics or religion.

Time also equals missed opportunities. We are brought up with our perceptions in what it really means to "live" among our western culture. For example dating, marriage, family, traveling, education, dream jobs, lifestyles, and so on.

After we die, those opportunities we dreamed about are long gone hence the perception of how time flies. As long as the human race remains, perceptions, ideals and evolutionary theories will live ever after.

OK, maybe I'm babbling and ranting so don't quote me on that....

Perception of time is based on how often your brain looks at your internal clock. As a kid, it looks at it often, hence time being so slow. When engaged with something fun, the brain focuses on that, and refers less often to clock. When we are waiting, our brain looks at it more often, creating the illusion of slower time. As we grow older, we start referring to it less and less. This makes time seem to speed up as we get older.

There's actually a cluster or brain cells in the brain that keep near perfect time.

Try setting your alarm for a time you'll wake up to. Go to bed at the same time every night, and wake up to that time every day for a few weeks, then do not set your alarm.