We’ve all heard about, and most have experienced, the sensation of acceleration of time as we age.
To a child, a year is an eternity. To a senior citizen, time has flown by, and years continue to zoom past. I recall waiting so impatiently for my 16th birthday so I could obtain my drivers license. And at age 19 looking at the next two years serving a mission away from home and school, and thinking it would be forever. And it nearly was.
But oh, how time has flown by since, and increasingly so. It is hard to believe we have lived in Beaverton 30 years and all our kids have grown up.
What is the cause of this experience or perception? I believe it is due to the relative comparison of incremental time versus the total time experience. For example, to a five year old, one year represents 20% of his life, but only 2% to a 50 year old. Does this mean time flies by 10 times faster to the 50 year old? I believe it may be so. And to get really abstract, what is the perception of time to a fruit fly, which might live but one week? (I know, a more fundamental question might be whether the fruit fly has any perceptions at all.) Perhaps one second to a fruit fly is like a day to us.
Another example of relative perception might be during travel on a long trip. The first minute, then five minutes, then hour seem of similar significance to the entire middle 80% of a trip. Again, the final and increasingly shorter distances to the destination also take on increased significance.
So, anyway, this is my post of deep and abstract thinking. 🙂