Why does time appear to speed up as you get older?

Answer 1

yes, in reality your brain and reactions are getting slower

Answer 2

I agree with jessi and Mogli, because we measure time, we percieve or relate to a timeframe as we know it. when we were 12, it seemed like an eternity before we'd reach the milestone of 18, it was 1/2 a lifetime away, and we were anxious for the freedom it represented, when we are 20, we look at 40 as far off into the future, we have plenty of time to settle down or experiment before we make major decisions, like career choice, marraige or where to buy a home, the things that anchor us and represent adulthood and permanence ,We want to party and date and take our time before we do that, then all of a sudden life accelerates as if we hit the fast forward button. Then at 40 we are shocked at how fast we got there and realize that we are past middle age, if I live to be 80 then I am middle aged, so the 40's become sacred, we know who we are , we have our style , we start to realize whats really important and we want to savor our lives now because hey we arent getting any younger, our bodies will go down from here and so forth, but because it is so important, it goes fast, time flies, we work , we have homes and bills to pay etc, if we are lucky life in our 50's is still great, with health and money and grandkids, when you look in the mirror at40 or 50 , you know that the face you see is the face you made, nobody wants to die, we finally learned how to live, we have a little money saved, we think of all we havent done yet, so little time.
even though the clock ticks at the same pace, the mathmatics of time and how we percieve it and appreciate it is what gives the illusion of speed

Answer 3

When does time go fastest? When you are unconscious. You go under the knife (surgery) you wake up a day later but note no time passage. During comas of years brain activity is minimal and patients do not experience time passage. So....

Maybe our neural pathways are becoming hardened. As we experience new events as we get older, we have more similar experiences to lay a new template on. Therefore our brains become more efficient only having to add a couple of details, loose a couple of details.

For example, you already have gone to work 2000 times. You've seen that similar light/weather pattern in the sky 100 times. The traffic pattern is similar to 500 other times of travel. Your brain simple lays down the memory in that simplified form. Having not spent time noticing every thing (mentally working) everything else flys by in a less aware state. You're simply note things out of the ordinary, not the familiar.

When I'm fully unconscious time really flies; I'm now only semi-conscious as far as brain work is concerned so time goes by much quicker than when I had to work harder to imprint those memories.

Just spit ballin' here...

Peace

Answer 4

Time refers to the space between life and death...Is life to short (if that is what you are saying)? Time speeds as we grow up. As a child, we may only look at the time to see when we have to be home at a certain time or something as easy as an appointment to the dentist. Then, time only plays a major role when it comes to this. Now, or as you get older, time is on our side whenever we think of death or any other related to time. As we get older, our body becomes more fragile and we are more likely to think more on life matters and what we should do to satisfy ourselves when the "time" comes.

Answer 5

I think it's because you've experienced more of it. To a 5-year old, a year is only 1/5 of their entire life. To a 40 year old, 1/5 of their life is 8 years. You also live more in the moment as a child. You're not always thinking about what you need to be doing an hour from now, or a day from now. You just are IN the now.

Answer 6

Not going to get into this much but, I think it has to do with quantum physics. Those that buy into quantum mechanics would find it easy to understand that the wave probably gets thinner, moves faster and is fading.

Here goes a dumb analogy but understandable: Getting older is like letting a balloon full of air escape, it seems that it gets going faster, bouncing from wall to wall as it's losing it's air!

Answer 7

Ok as time passes you surely get nearer to the bridge you are going to pass so you feel it more and you feel others less and thats because there is for sure a relation bet. time and space so you have to pay your potential,ever the same attention to that bridge then little by little all your life is what is in front and nothing more.this is a rule that if you attend sth a lot it becomes more than what it is and it s why it gets nearer.

Answer 8

I think Jesse h has got it spot on. My father always said to me that I was getting closer to him as time went on. when I was born he was 27 times my age, now I am only half his age.

We also have more things in our life as we get older, if only I could re-live my life as a child, my daughter has had such a good Christmas, it has been really nice to see the innocent awe that the day brings, balanced by the complete cynicism of the older generation.

Answer 9

As a toddler, you have little or no frame of reference for understanding extended periods of time. Days may pass by relatively quickly for a two year old who has lived for 830 days - in this instance, a day is one 830th of experienced time, but a year is a half of experienced time.

The ratios get shorter as you get older,( fro a five year old, one year is a fifth of experienced time, for a 10 yr old, it's a tenth, etc...) so longer peeriods of time seem shorter.

Answer 10

Because there is less of it to go.
When I was at school 6hrs was eternity.
Now it is but a mere blink.
I have fulfilled the greater part of Gods purpose for me...ie;
4 children, 4 grandchildren and there I leave the next chapter.
Time is now limited, where once it was infinate and beyond my reasoning

Answer 11

When you become aware that yesterday us never returning and tomorrow isn't a guarantee (and that comes from getting older) each day seems to have less minutes to get done what needs doing. Also as you acknowledge your days are finite, each seems more precious that the last,leaving that empty feeling as they pass