Does your perception of time change as you get older?

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For example, I am 27 now 10 years ago does not seem that long ago. Back in 2010 when I was 17, the year 2000 seemed like it was so long ago. The same amount of time from has passed from 2000 to 2010 as 2010 to 2020. Why did 10 years feel so long ago to me 10 years ago but 10 years ago now feels more recent? Is time supposed to feel like it goes slower when we are children? There are people who are a lot older than who say that 20 or 30 years ago feels like yesterday to them. To me, 20 years feels like it was so long ago because I was only 7. Will my perception of 20 years change in another 20 years? Do you think that 2020 will feel more recent to me in 2040 than 2000 feels like in 2020?

I think it speeds up as you get older.

Which scares me. Cos once you're in your 30s or even 20s, it's like a quick plummet to death. Even though we're still quite young.

Things can slow it down like mindfulness & having new experiences. That second one, autistic people are at a disadvantage with and that first one, we're at an advantage with. We naturally have stronger senses than other people, so feel things more intensely which creates more of a memory in our brain & slows it down.

When we were in lockdown & I was in 100% lockdown for mum's sake, I became hyper aware of my senses & time slowed down. I enjoyed sweets as much as I had when I was a kid - for the first time since. I even enjoyed other foods a lot more. But pain felt more intense too.

Assuming I remember correctly and understand the neuroscience behind it (admittedly a broad assumption, but bear with me), your perception of time very much changes as you get older.

If you'll forgive a gross overgeneralization, basically, your brain doesn't bother to form much in the way of detailed long-term memories for familiar activities and experiences. So as you age and gain more experience, you don't form as many detailed memories, thus... kind of montaging your own life. It feels like things are going by faster because they don't register on you as strongly.

There's also the fact that 20 years, for me, is less than half my life (I'm 43 now). You change a lot less between 23 and 43 than you do between 3 and 23, or even 14 and 34. So 20 years ago just doesn't feel that long ago to me, despite knowing objectively that it's kinda been a while.

Time speeds up because when you're five even a week is a significant portion of your life but by the time you're fifty it's only a 10% as much of your life even if it's still objectively the same amount of time. An immortal would be the most patient entity around because time would literally be irrelevant for them.

Perception of time changes dramatically with age

When I was a kid, a day seemed to last for ever

In my 20's, time started leaving me behind, and it has only gotten worse. The years fly by like crazy, it feels like a train wreck. I have no idea how the last 20-30 years could disappear like that.

Most of my past feels like it was only yesteryear.

What did you post in this thread yesterday Skilp ? It really confused me

I may be 30 now, but sometimes I still have flashbacks of my high school years,
all of it was four years of hell for me.

So yes, perception of time has changed for me.

Yes, it seems only yesterday I was 20 but an eternity since I was 10. I'm not old enough to know how 20 years can seem like yesterday yet, but I'm intrigued to find out when I'm older.

It does seem ironic that time passes more slowly when you're a kid, because you don't take much notice of time when you're growing up so you'd have thought time would go quicker, if you get what I mean. They say "time flies when you're having fun".