The Cruelty of Time
by
, April 24th, 2019 at 05:14 AM (129 Views)
Ever notice how time seems to go faster as you get older? When I was a kid, summer break felt like it lasted forever. Now, the seasons just fly by. It feels like January seems to keep edging closer to itself as the years roll on. A friend of mine pointed out an interesting observation. The longer we are alive, the smaller a portion of time is represented within the whole. For instance, two months for someone who is 10 years old is 1.67% of their total life (2 months / 120 months). Using the same math, 2 months for someone 30 years old would be 0.56%. Which makes perfect sense as to why time is perceived to be moving faster due to the footprint of time keeps diminishing. The longer we live, the less each moment is felt. That 2 month summer break from school felt longer because it had more impact in relation to how long I was alive.
The stark realization is that the longer you live, the faster time will appear. Since we don't know how long we live, this process accelerates faster than we can perceive it, until eventually we can no longer can observe time.
Time is fairly cut and dry, it's very linear. The interesting bit I find, isn't so much time, but rather experiences. We trade time to gain experiences (good or bad). It's a finite currency, but experiences can saturate, and thusly distort the feeling of time further. Doing a mundane task can feel like an eternity, but learning something new can cause time to fly by. I wonder if it's your subconscious realizing that have spent X% of time doing a task and is sending you signals to do something new. I know for me, it's impossible for me to do nothing. With a lack of external stimuli, my mind wonders and I day dream; which, I suppose, is still an experience since no two thoughts can be alike, just as any two moments in time.