Understanding the Acceleration of Time Perception as We Age
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Chapter 1: The Perception of Time in Youth and Adulthood
As we mature, many people notice a peculiar phenomenon: time appears to quicken compared to the seemingly endless days of childhood. During our younger years, both joyful and challenging moments felt as if they would last indefinitely—long summer days of play contrasted sharply with monotonous car journeys. Psychologist Claudia Hammond notes that “the feeling that time accelerates with age is one of the great enigmas of our temporal experience.”
A basic explanation for this common observation is that, in youth, each time interval constitutes a larger portion of our lived experience. In contrast, as we age, each successive unit of time represents a smaller fraction of our overall existence, making it feel shorter. However, this theory has its limitations, as we seldom contemplate the entirety of our lives in any given moment; we are simply immersed in the present.
Section 1.1: Memory and Time's Passage
Another critique of the previous theory suggests that time appears to have moved slower in youth because everything was novel, leading to the formation of more memories. While this seems valid (as elaborated in Section 3), I believe that time genuinely felt slower during our younger years. It's not merely a trick of memory.
To comprehend the varying perception of time throughout our lives, we must examine the changes in our brains as we age.
Subsection 1.1.1: The Neural Web of Aging
The first concept I want to discuss originates from Adrian Bejan, a mechanical engineering professor at Duke University. He posits that as we age, our ability to process stimuli per unit of time diminishes. This decline occurs because the complexity of our neural connections increases as we mature. While this complexity enhances our understanding of the world, it also requires new stimuli to navigate an ever-more intricate neural network.
Consequently, if we were to graph age against the amount of stimuli processed per second, we would see a peak in childhood, followed by a gradual decline into adulthood, with an additional drop-off in old age due to senescence.
Chapter 2: The Critical Flicker Fusion Rate (CFFR)
The first video, Apparently Time Flies When You're Old, explores the phenomenon of time perception in aging. It discusses how our experiences change as we grow older, providing insights into why we feel time speeds up.
One significant change that occurs with aging is a decrease in our Critical Flicker Fusion Rate (CFFR), which can be thought of as the frame rate of our visual perception. Essentially, CFFR refers to the frequency at which a flickering light is perceived as a constant beam. On average, humans have a CFFR of around 60 frames per second.
Interestingly, various animals exhibit different CFFRs. For example, turtles experience the world in a more staggered manner, while insects perceive it in fast motion. As Ed Yong notes in his book An Immense World, each visual perception speed can affect our sense of time.
As we age, our CFFR tends to decline. Research indicates that CFFR decreases by nearly 30% from ages 18-21 to 44-45. Personally, I have felt this difference when returning to hockey after a long break; the game now feels significantly faster, regardless of my improved physical condition.
Section 2.1: Cognitive Development and Time Perception
In my book Truth Evolves, I proposed another idea regarding how our perception of time shifts as we age. I argued that evolution has equipped us with what some scholars call an intuitive ontology—basic categories that help us process experiences. As we navigate life, we expand these categories, reducing the need to consciously focus on every piece of information.
Adults possess a rich array of concepts, allowing them to quickly categorize stimuli. In contrast, children have fewer concepts, making them more attuned to the full spectrum of sensory experiences. Consequently, each moment feels longer for children compared to adults, who tend to overlook the richness of their surroundings.
The second video, Why Does Time Fly as You Get Older?, dives deeper into the science behind this perception, examining the relationship between cognitive function and time.
Final Thoughts
If these theories hold true, it may be impossible to entirely halt the perception of time speeding up as we age. Nevertheless, there are ways to mitigate this effect. Factors such as sleep deprivation and alcohol use have been linked to reductions in CFFR. Additionally, keeping your mind active can help stave off cognitive decline.
To maximize your experience of each moment as you age, prioritize sleep, engage in physical activities, and challenge yourself with new experiences. While it may not be the fountain of youth, these strategies are the best tools we have to enrich our lives.