Neuroscientists and psychologists have observed one interesting phenomenon among people all over the world: as they get older, they feel that time passes with increasing speed.
According to Warren Meck, psychology professor at Duke University, quoted in the article by Robert Krulwich, older people "have this sense, this feeling that time is going faster than they are."
Tackling this problem for the past forty years, scientists have offered several possible explanations. One suggestion is that the strength of novel experiences changes one's perception of time. Another possible explanation is the relative "size" of the correlation between one year in life and the individual's age, which can affect perception of how much time is at the person's disposal. A third is the relationship between energy and time.
Novel Experiences Slow Down Time
Neuroscientist David Eagleman claims that time is a matter of perception. One can "speed up" the experience of time or one can "slow down" the sense of its passage. One's experience of it is based on whether one is going through something new (like a first trip) or doing something that has become routine.
When one experiences an event for the first time, the brain uses more energy to store that information in one's memory. That's why memories of the first trip to Disneyland or the first prom are often thick and redolent with details and time seems endless.
The newer the experience, the harder the brain works to encode details as memories, creating a blueprint for future reference. Driving to work for the first time seems to take forever; however, subsequent trips seem much shorter in duration because the brain is not working as hard to process the event.
As one ages, experiences become more prosaic. The sense that "you've done it once and you've done it all" kills off the novelty of events. Like a computer checking for a general template, the brain picks up familiar patterns and compress details for storage. It does not work as hard because it is not writing a new file. That's when time flies.
What Percentage of Your Life Do You Live in a Year?
Another explanation looks at the correlation between one year in a person's life and his or her age, then calculates the relative "size" of this relationship at various times in his or her life.
For a two year old, one year is 50% of her life, which seems to be a huge segment of time. For a sixty year old, one year is 1.6% of her life, a percentage that points more to the law of diminishing returns.
This sense of the percentage of life in one's senior years may alter one's perception of time.
Time Runs Out When Energy Runs out
According to Deepak Chopra in Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul :How to Create a New You (New York: Harmony Books,2009), time runs out when energy runs out. Without food or air, cells begin to deteriorate within seconds. Deprived of oxygen for ten minutes or more, the brain begins to die.
So it is with one's sense of time. Without proper care and use of time, one loses it. Time is like a muscle that atrophies without exercise.
How does one reconnect energy with time?
For Chopra, it comes down again to perception. By anchoring one's consciousness in the place beyond time, "on the very edge of the timeless...where atoms first begin to vibrate, setting the timing of the entire universe"(p.99), one can re-energize one's sense of time.
It is here that time can be managed because it is here that the cells of the body are replenished by the energy of the timeless, otherwise known as the soul.
Reconnecting with the soul that lives beyond time is one way to slow it down.
How can one "slow down" time?
- Meditate on stillness to reconnect with one's source.
- Discharge tension with deep energy work , yoga or exercise.
- Stay within the flow of the light. Visualize inner light and bathe in its energy.
- Use healing with sound exercises or toning to get rid of negative energy.
If time can be "slowed down" by a brain working hard to process the newness of the experience, then there is much to be said for seeking novel experiences.
Going back to school, taking up a new passion like painting, writing or piano lessons, volunteering for a local organization, traveling to strange, new places or just doing what you've always wanted to do, but never got the gumption to do so until now – it's believed that all of these experiences will slow the passage of time.
Can you stop time? According to Chopra, time is a matter of perception; its speed and passage are well within one's control.
Source:
Krulwich, Robert. "Why Does Time Fly By as You Get Older?" National Public Radio.Org. February 1. 2010. Accessed May 6. 2010.
Mary Desaulniers - I am a retired teacher and grandmother looking forward to the next 30 or more years with great relish and enthusiasm. My passions are ...
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