As we get older, time appears to go faster. I have a theory, but whats yours?

Question

Actually I have 2 theories as to why time seems to go quicker the older you get. I am interested in learning what you all think also.

No I know time doesnt GO faster. Hence the use of the words "appears" and "seems" in my question!

Answer 1

Because as you get older, you have more responsibilities and things to do, so you feel like youre on a treadmill and you never really get a chance to hop off and reflect on your life.

You are too busy doing what you NEED to do and don;t have much time to do what you WANT to do.

Answer 2

I have an answer for you, but it is not my own, it is from a celebrity named George Carlin, he is a comedian and he quoted age like this in his words...
This is so true and so funny at the same time...



George Carlin's Views on
Aging............................

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when
we like to get old is when we're kids?

If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about
aging that you think in fractions...

"How old are you?"
"I'm 4 and a half!"
You're never 36 and a half...
You're 4 and a half, going on 5!!!
That's the key...

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you
back...
You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead...

"How old are you?"
"I'm gonna be 16!"
You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!!!
And then, the greatest day of your life ...
You become 21...
Even the words sound like a ceremony...
YOU BECOME 21...
YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30...
Oooohh, what happened there?
Makes you sound like bad milk!!!
He TURNED; we had to throw him out...
There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling...
What's wrong?
What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40...
Whoa!!!
Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away...
Before you know it, you REACH 50,
and your dreams are gone...

But wait!!!
You MAKE it to 60...
You didn't think you would!!!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and
MAKE it to 60...

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!!!
After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!!!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle;
you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH
bedtime...

And it doesn't end there...
Into the 90's, you start going backwards;
"I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens...
If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again...
"I'm 100 and a half!!!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half.............

Answer 3

I think because we dont remember the details of small events as much as we did as children,we always seen to have other things to think about.I can remember the colour of my bucket on a trip to the beach age 5 or 6 ,i could tell you where every crack and drain is in a street i grew up in 30 yrs ago,but have trouble remembering if i have milk in fridge, what time ive arranged to meet someone.Maybe also as an adult you never seem to have the time to relax and think about the smaller things and each day just blurs into the next .

Answer 4

I'm not sure I actually agree with that but I know what you mean. Sometimes it feels like the years are flying by, yet something done in recent months seems like it was done years ago upon reflection.
I think that maybe it's to do with the events making an impact. Starting school, leaving school, starting a new year at school, the six weeks holidays, xmas holidays etc. etc. It's all a buzz and they all seem like huge stakes in the ground when your young, whereas you plod along a bit when you're older and the only stakes in the ground are mostly the ones you place there yourself.

Answer 5

I think time is relative like the old saying watched pot never boils
every time I put a cup of milk in the microwave I watch it to make sure it doesn't boil over that minute takes forever.
If I am sitting in the pub (I hate the pub) an hour feels like a week but when I go away on holiday two weeks feels like just one. unless you get awful weather then it feels like a month.
If your having fun time seems to go quickly
If you are unhappy or bored it goes slowly
This cannot apply to children though unless they are bored all the time. a thought I was bored at school a lot .
I can remember being 4 years old and my cousin visited from America for two months that two months felt like my whole life. When they went back we knew we wouldn't see them for four years. When I was eight and they were coming back I can actually remember thinking that four years has gone really fast. When you chose your best answer could you let us know what your theory is because I am actually really interested in what people think.

Answer 6

It's no different then this;

How many of you grew up in a neighborhood and went back as an adult to see it's so much smaller then you remembered it was when you were little?

Another example;
Summer school break seemed to last forever when you were a little child, but as a teen it was only two months and started to go by quicker.

Well, our perspective on life back then was things lasts forever and are so massive, like looking at people that were age 40 when you were 10 seemed so old and incomprehensible, now it seems young! When we get mentally more developed it is put in to perspective and much smaller then we thought as a child so of course it flys by much quicker once you have that outlook.

Answer 7

I don't think time goes faster. I think that we are occupied in the brain more. Here is what I mean. My friends and I just discussed this the other day. When we were kids, we had nothing to do basically, so it seemed that time dragged forward. I remember when waiting for something to happen at a certain time later in the day took forever. It was because there was less in our minds to occupy us. Now, when I am waiting for something to happen later on in that day, it seems like I can't fit enough time in before that happens. As we get older our minds become more involved so we watch the clock less. therefore it seems like it is going faster, but really, we are just doing more.

Answer 8

I think it reflects how long you have lived i.e. 5 years when you're only 5 is your entire life, then you get to being 20 and it's a quarter of your life...(not sure I've explained myself very well but hope you understand), also I think as you get older you have more responsibilities and things to do so you're kept busier and have less free time to enjoy.
Would be interesting to hear your theories!

Answer 9

I agree with you 110%, i 've also noticed that myself.
I clearly remember when i was around 9 years old, when it's the summer holidays for 3 months it seems like eternal. It just seems like it takes forever for the summer holidays to end and everyday i'm enjoying myself playing video games.

Though i dont know why we feel this way, yeah i dont really know why, is it maybe we've experienced " a certain section of time" -say 1 month or 1 year. so many times in our lifes that there's no longer any anticipation or unfamiliar feeling to it?

pls share your theories as i do wanna know, cus i've been thinking about it too...

Answer 10

I agree with the memories idea. If you are doing the same thing every day - as we tend to do as we get older - you are not really forming new memories. Everyday seems the same so when you look back on the year it seems to have flown by. When you are younger you are doing more new things and small things are more important to you so you have more memories of the year and it seems to have lasted longer. I have experience of this as when I split up with my boyfriend a year ago I spent every night and weekend going out and trying new things. Those three months seemed to last a very long time.