Do peoples' concepts of time differ? Has this ever been scientifically proven?

Question

For example, does one year feel longer for one person than it does for another? Is this linked to any kind of chemical in the brain or body?

Also...when we have a good time somewhere, things seem to go by more quickly than they do when we're not enjoying ourselves. Is any of this linked to a chemical or mechanism that changes our perception of time?

Have any studies ever been done on this or is there any kind of scientific or medical explanation?

Answer 1

you can't measure a perception, it's individual. but i believe they have done work with atomic clocks in orbit versus on the ground and measured the effects of speed on time.

I'm sure there have been some psychological studies on it that you can find, but i doubt you find any biology, chemistry or physics experiments on this subject.

Answer 2

For the psychological answer. Yes, it's been studied. What it has to deal with is the short and long term memory usage. As a child you are constantly experiencing new sights, sounds, etc...

But as you get older, your brain will recognize similar tasks or memories and will not write it to memory (create synaptic connections between neurons). The lack of memory makes time appear to "skip" or fast forward since there isn't a direct memory to associate the time reference with.

This is most commonly noticed in a daily commute. If you travel the same route every day, you'll often only remember the significant changes or events, but can't necessarily recall all the details of each store. But if you go a different route, you are more apt to remember the stores, street names, etc...

As for actual time dilations...The most common form is found within the Global Positioning System. The satellites all move at different speeds in orbit. The satellites need to have the same reference of time in order for devices on the ground to send and receive a signal that can be converted from time into distance. The distance is then used to triangulate a location. The clocks that are used are called atomic clocks. They keep time by monitoring the vibration (frequency) of cesium atoms. They are very accurate and will stay in sync (if side by side) for thousands of years. However, when they are set in motion at different speeds, time will distort and the more out of sync, the more inaccurate the GPS reading will be. To keep them in sync, a "leap second" is added or taken away every couple years to set all the atomic clocks to the same time.

Feel free to write me if you'd like to discuss either further.

Thanks!

Answer 3

No its all about aging. When you're a child and go to school, days seem without end, because you were constantly learning.
They say, the older you get, time seems to fly and therefore once you are out of school you should take on something like a language course etc, to start learning again and time seems to slow down again. And then of course we have the people who have no conception of time, they are constantly late, don't wear a watch and are a pain in the butt at work but it does not seem to bother them.

Answer 4

i read once that if you really concentrate on something, and get really into it. for me, thats wrestling, reading, skiing and playing cricket, then time goes really fast. viceaversa if you are bored and not into it then time goes really slowly. dont no if its got chemicals to do with it. if you enjoy something, then you become in a trance like state, and time for you, goes faster. hope it helped