Why Life Seems to Speed Up as We Age

Summary

This script explores why time seems to speed up as we age. It suggests that a year feels shorter as it represents a smaller fraction of our lives. Experiments show older people often overestimate time intervals, possibly due to a slowing internal clock. The script also discusses how focus, novelty, and repetition affect our perception of time, with novel experiences requiring more brain energy and making time feel slower. To 'slow down' time, one could introduce more novelty or fear, but this doesn't guarantee a pleasant experience. The paradox of time perception is that while we want it to slow down, a life filled with pleasant, fast-paced moments might be the most memorable.

Takeaways

• 🕰️ Time seems to go faster as we age, a perception shared by many.
• ⏳ The argument that each year feels faster because it's a smaller fraction of our lives is questioned.
• 🧠 The decrease in neuron firing rate or neuron conduction velocity with age might make external time seem to speed up.
• 👵 Older people tend to overestimate time intervals, while younger people are more accurate in time perception.
• 🧠 Our sense of time, or chronoception, is not a standard sense and is not localized in one part of the brain.
• 🐀 Studies on rats show that the ability to perceive time is a fundamental function of the brain, evolved early.
• 🎥 Engrossing activities like watching a good movie or being in 'flow' can make time seem to pass more quickly.
• 🐕 Novel experiences require more brain energy, making them seem longer, which could explain why time feels slower in childhood.
• 😱 Fear and danger can increase our perception of time, making experiences seem longer.
• 🥱 Boredom makes us more aware of time passing, making it feel like it drags on.
• 🧐 The paradox of time perception: we want time to slow down, but the experiences that do so are not always pleasant.

Q & A

Why does time seem to go faster as we age?

Time seems to go faster as we age because each year represents a smaller fraction of our total life experience. Additionally, our neuron firing rates decrease, which can make external time seem to speed up.

What is the significance of the graph showing one year as a percentage of your life at each age?

The graph illustrates that at younger ages, each year is a larger percentage of your life, making it feel longer. As you age, each year becomes a smaller percentage, contributing to the feeling that time is passing more quickly.

How does the experiment with estimating a minute at Venice Beach relate to the perception of time?

The experiment shows that older people tend to overestimate the passage of a minute, while younger people estimate it more accurately, suggesting that the perception of time can change with age.

What role does the neuron conduction velocity play in our sense of time?

The neuron conduction velocity, or the rate at which our neurons fire, is likened to an internal clock. As we age and this rate decreases, external time can seem to speed up.

How does the mental state 'flow' affect our perception of time?

When we are fully engaged in an activity, such as playing sports or being deeply focused on work, we enter a state of 'flow' where time seems to pass more quickly because we are not consciously aware of its passage.

What makes novel experiences feel like they take longer?

Novel experiences require more energy for the brain to process, which correlates with a longer perceived duration. This is why new or unexpected events can seem to last longer.

How does repetition affect the perception of time?

Repetition can make time seem to pass more quickly because familiar experiences require less brain energy to process. This is why routine activities or repeated images can seem to occur in less time.

What is the relationship between energy usage in the brain and our sense of time?

There is a high correlation between the energy used in the brain and our subjective sense of time's duration. More energy usage, as in novel experiences, leads to a longer perceived duration.

How can fear or extreme activities influence our perception of time?

Fear or participation in extreme activities can increase our perception of time because these situations demand heightened awareness and focus, making the experience seem to last longer.

Why do holidays seem to pass quickly but are remembered as lasting a long time?

Holidays seem to pass quickly because we are often engaged in enjoyable, novel activities that put us in a state of 'flow'. However, they are remembered as lasting a long time due to the high number of memories formed during these experiences.

What is the paradox of our perception of time?

The paradox of our perception of time is that while we may experience time as passing quickly in the moment, especially during novel or engaging activities, when we look back on those times, they seem to have lasted longer due to the rich memories created.

Outlines

00:00

⏳ Why Does Time Feel Faster as We Get Older?

The speaker recalls childhood experiences of waiting for TV shows, highlighting how time felt slow then but seems to speed up with age. This common phenomenon raises the question of whether this sensation is just an illusion or has scientific explanations. Collaborating with National Geographic's 'Brain Games,' the speaker explores theories behind this, like the idea that each year feels faster because it becomes a smaller fraction of one's life. However, the speaker challenges this notion by pointing out that if this theory were accurate, we would have lived half of our life by age six. This leads to a deeper investigation into other factors affecting our perception of time.

05:06

⏱️ How Aging Slows Neurons and Speeds Up Time

The speaker conducts an experiment involving younger and older participants to measure their sense of time. Younger people tend to estimate a minute accurately, while older people often overestimate, which is linked to the slowing rate of neuron firing in the brain as we age. This slower firing acts as an internal clock, making time feel faster externally. This is a common phenomenon that has been observed in various studies around the world. The speaker discusses how our sense of time, known as 'chronoception,' is fundamental to the brain but is not one of the standard senses.

🎬 Why Do Exciting Moments Feel Short?

The speaker dives into how our perception of time can be distorted by focus and novelty. Engaging experiences like watching a movie or being in a state of 'flow' make time seem to pass faster because our brains are fully absorbed in the task. The speaker presents an experiment where different images are shown on a screen for the same amount of time, but novel images, like a dog, seem to last longer because our brains invest more energy in processing them. This energy correlation also explains why time feels slower in childhood when everything is new and the brain uses more energy to process novel experiences.

🎢 How Fear and Boredom Slow Down Time

Fear and boredom can slow down our perception of time, as shown in experiments with arachnophobes and skydivers. When faced with fear, the brain becomes hyper-aware of passing moments, making time feel longer. Similarly, boredom, where there is little to focus on, drags time out because one becomes highly conscious of how much time is passing. The speaker humorously suggests that to slow down time, one could engage in dangerous activities or long bouts of boredom. However, this overlooks the role of memory and novelty, where rich, novel experiences create lasting memories and make past events feel longer.

🧠 The Paradox of Time and Memory

The speaker discusses how our perception of time in the moment can differ from our memory of it. Holidays, for example, may feel short when we’re living them but seem long in retrospect due to the many memories they create. This paradox suggests that while novelty can make time feel faster in the moment, it elongates our memory of events. The speaker concludes by contemplating whether the happiest life is one where time seems to fly by. They reference Einstein’s famous quote about time feeling relative depending on circumstances and thank National Geographic for sponsoring the episode, encouraging viewers to explore more about the science of time on the 'Brain Games' series.

Keywords

💡Perception of Time

The perception of time refers to the subjective experience of the passage of time, which can vary from person to person. In the video, it is discussed as a central theme, exploring why time seems to go faster as we age. The script mentions various factors that influence this perception, such as the proportion of one's life that a year represents, the firing rate of neurons, and the brain's energy usage in processing novel experiences.

💡Brain Games

Brain Games is a show by the National Geographic Channel that is mentioned in the script. It explores the inner workings of the human mind through experiments and interactive games. The video uses the show as a platform to test theories about the perception of time, indicating that the concept of time is deeply intertwined with cognitive processes.

💡Neuron Conduction Velocity

Neuron conduction velocity is the speed at which nerve impulses travel along neurons. The script suggests that as we age, this velocity decreases, which could contribute to the perception that time is passing more quickly. This concept is used to explain the 'internal clock' theory of time perception.

💡Chronoception

Chronoception is the mental perception of the passage of time. The video discusses how this sense is not like the standard five senses, as it does not have specialized receptor cells and is not localized in one part of the brain. It is presented as a fundamental function of the brain, suggesting that our sense of time is deeply rooted in our cognitive processes.

💡Flow

Flow is a mental state in which a person is fully immersed in an activity, experiencing a sense of energized focus and complete involvement. The script mentions that when we are in 'flow,' time seems to pass more quickly, which is related to the intense focus and engagement in the present moment, as opposed to being distracted by external time.

💡Repetition

Repetition is the act of repeating something, which can influence the perception of time. The video suggests that repetitive experiences make time seem to pass more quickly because the brain requires less energy to process familiar stimuli. This is contrasted with novel experiences, which require more brain energy and make time seem to slow down.

💡Subjective Duration

Subjective duration is the perceived length of an event, which can differ from the actual duration. The script uses the example of images appearing to last different lengths of time based on their novelty, illustrating how our brain's energy usage in processing information correlates with our sense of how long something lasts.

💡Novelty

Novelty refers to something new or unknown. The video explains that novel experiences require more brain energy to process, which can make time seem to slow down. This is contrasted with familiar experiences, which require less energy and can make time seem to speed up.

💡Memory Formation

Memory formation is the process by which the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information. The script suggests that the number of memories formed during an experience can influence our perception of how long that experience lasted. More memories can make an event seem longer in retrospect, even if it felt short at the time.

💡Paradox

A paradox is a statement or situation that seems self-contradictory or logically unacceptable. The video presents the paradox of time perception, where the happiest and most memorable life may be one where time seems to fly by, yet is filled with novel experiences that make it feel long when remembered.

💡Einstein's Quote

The script references a quote attributed to Albert Einstein, illustrating the subjective nature of time perception. The quote humorously contrasts the experience of time during an unpleasant event (hand on a stove) versus a pleasant one (sitting with a pretty girl), highlighting how our emotional state can influence our perception of time.

Highlights

The perception of time speeding up as we age is a common experience.

The argument that each year feels faster because it's a smaller fraction of our lives is critiqued.

A graph is used to illustrate how one year's length as a percentage of our age changes over time.

The idea that our brains perceive time differently at different ages is explored.

An experiment at Venice Beach compares older and younger people's time estimations.

Older people tend to overestimate time intervals, while younger people estimate them more accurately.

The neuron firing rate, or internal clock, slows down as we age, affecting our perception of time.

Chronoception, our sense of time, is not like the standard five senses and is not localized in the brain.

Rats can time intervals accurately even without their neocortex, suggesting an early evolutionary development of time sense.

Good movies and vacations seem to pass quickly because we're focused and not noticing time passing.

The mental state 'flow' can make time feel shorter when we're fully engaged in an activity.

Repetition can make time seem to speed up; novel experiences make it seem slower.

The brain's energy usage correlates with our subjective duration of experiences.

Children use more of their resting energy for their brain due to the novelty of experiences.

Being afraid or in dangerous situations can increase our perception of time.

Boredom can make time feel like it's passing slowly because there's little to focus on.

The paradox of time perception: novel experiences make time feel long when remembered but fast when experienced.

Einstein's quote about time perception is mentioned to illustrate the subjective nature of time.

The National Geographic Channel's 'Brain Games' is promoted for further exploration of time perception.

Transcripts

I remember when I was a kid waiting an hour for my favorite TV show to come on,

which was Sharon, Lois & Bram.

That felt like eternity, but as I've gotten older, everything seems to have sped up.

Time is going much faster. That's something virtually everyone agrees upon.

"Yeah, I feel like- I feel like it does."

"Oh man, so much."

"Each year sort of gets faster and faster."

But why is this? Is it just an illusion or are there good scientific reasons why time appears to go faster

as we get older?

Well, I'm working with the National Geographic Channel's Brain Games, a show that explores

the inner workings of the human mind through experiments and interactive games to test out some

theories about why this actually occurs.

There is a reasonable sounding argument that says each year goes faster because it makes up a smaller fraction

of your entire life.

"Let's say I was only 20. One year is only 1/20th of my age. But when I'm 67, one year is 1/67th of my age."

This graph shows one year as a percentage of your life at each age.

But what I find weird about this is if you add up the area underneath the curve, you'll find that you've already

lived half of the total by age 6.

So, I really don't think this is how our brains perceive time.

You really think that, like, a day now is-

"Of course not." [laughter]

I think there are better reasons why time appears to speed up as we get older.

So I've come to Venice Beach to find two groups of people: The older and younger

to see if their perceptions of time differ.

So what I want to do is I want to set my timer going and without counting,

you tell me when you think a minute is up.

"Let's go."

Start.

"Okay."

Everywhere around the world, when this experiment is performed, older people typically overestimate

while younger people measure it quite accurately.

"Alright, probably stop?"

"Yep."

Wooo, one minute, two seconds.

A minute and two seconds.

A minute and five.

As we get older, the rate at which our neurons fire, or our neuron conduction velocity, it decreases.

And you can think of this firing rate a little bit like an internal clock.

And so, if our internal clock is slowing down, that would make everything else, external time,

seem to be speeding up.

"I'm going to tell you the time."

Now?

"Now."

"One minute."

That's it? That was one minute?

"One minute."

Minute, seventeen seconds.

"Not bad, right?"

Not bad.

"I thought I'd be a lot closer actually, but I guess I wasn't."

Do you want to know what it really was?

One minute forty seven.

"No way, it was almost two minutes? It was actually almost two minutes."

"It really is amazing how fast time flies by, it really is."

Our sense of time, or chronoception, is not like one of the standard five senses. It has no specialized

receptor cells and it does not appear to be localized in just one part of the brain.

Perhaps this suggests that it's not one coherent thing at all.

But it does seem that our perception of time is very fundamental.

Studies of rats have shown that even with their neocortex removed - that is, the higher order thinking

part of their brains- They are still able to learn how to time forty seconds accurately.

That's quite remarkable, and it suggests our sense of time evolved early and is one of the fundamental

functions of the brain.

But that doesn't mean out brains always represent time faithfully.

For example, have you noticed that really good movies seem to go by much faster than they actually are?

Or do you notice that your vacations fly by? There are good reasons for this.

When we're focused on something, we don't notice that time is passing and that makes them feel in the moment

shorter than they actually are.

At its best, this results in a mental state called "flow". This can happen when playing sports or video games

or artists when they're fully engrossed in their work or people meditating.

So I would argue another reason time speeds up as we age is because we are more often engrossed in

what we're doing.

Another thing that appears to make time speed up is repetition. I'm going to show you a series of images

and I want you to consider how long each one appears on the screen.

Are you ready?

Go.

So which one appeared to last the longest? If you're like most people, you'd probably say the dog.

But all of those images actually appeared on screen fore the same length of time. The dog seemed longer

because it was novel and therefore, your brain had to invest more energy in processing it.

What's remarkable is that our sense of how long something is - or subjective duration-

It correlates highly with how much energy we're using in our brains. Now, if you study how much energy people

use in their brains over the course of their lifetime, you'll find that it peaks around age five.

If you think about it, this kind of makes sense because when you're a kid, almost everything is novel to you.

And therefore, your brain needs to use more energy, fully 66% of your resting energy intake.

That's used by the brain because of all the novel experiences and that must, at least in part,

explain why time appears to go more slowly.

So, what can we do to slow time down? Well, studies have shown that being afraid increases our perception

of time.

When arachnophobes were forced to stare at spiders for 45 seconds - Yes, this is a real experiment -

Those arachnophobes judged that experience as lasting much longer than 45 seconds,

as you would kind of expect.

Plus, experiments involving skydivers or people falling showed that they judged their experience to last

much longer than it actually is.

Another time when time appears to pass slowly is when you're bored.

"You know, when you're waiting and waiting, that's all you think about, so it seems like time drags forever."

Since there is so little to focus on, you are acutely aware of just how much time is passing,

and so these boring moments drag on and on.

So, if you really want to slow down your experience of time, you could scare yourself, take up extreme sports,

get into accidents and intersperse all of that with periods of boredom.

But this viewpoint ignores one important fact, which is that we don't experience time as just one thing.

We think about time as it passe, but also as it has passed before, when we remember it.

And those two ways of looking at time, they don't align.

So for example, holidays, they feel like they go by really fast, but when you think back upon them,

they last a long time.

That's because you had a lot of novel experiences and your brain formed a lot of memories.

And it judges the duration of that vacation by the number of memories that were formed.

All that novelty means lots of memories means it feels like it took a long time, but in the moment, it felt fast.

This is the paradox, the great paradox, of our perception of time.

If you want time to go slowly, there are a lot of things you can expose yourself to that will slow time down,

but they won't necessarily be pleasant.

So maybe the happiest life and the longest remembered life is one where time really seems to fly.

It's like Einstein said, "Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it'll feel like an hour.

But sit next to a pretty girl for an hour and it'll feel like a minute."

So, what would you like your life to feel like?

I want to thank the National Geographic Channel for sponsoring this episode of Veritasium.

And if you want to introduce more novelty into your life, than you should check out their series, "Brain Games"

The new season begins February 14th at 9/8 Central. And this season, they have an episode about

all of your senses, including your sense of time, chronoception.

So if you want to find out more, than check out the link to their website in the description.

And thank you for watching.

Did that feel like that lasted long?