Tag Archives: cognition

Fast Time and the Aging Mind

folks studying time perception have found, counterintuitively, that the idea that time speeds up as you get older appears to be a myth. if fact, as you get older you’re recording memories differently, “…first memories are dense. The routines of later life are sketchy. The past wasn’t really slower than the present. It just feels that way.”. when i first learned about the psychology of time perception, i discovered a simple way test how first memories affect perception of time. drive somewhere new and pay attention to how long it feels it’s taking ( we’re talking touchy feely perceptions here, not elapsed time ), then drive back at about the same speed and pay attention to how long it feels. the trip back will usually feel dramatically faster. eloquently on the perception of fast time and the aging mind, “It’s simple: if you want time to slow down, become a student again. Learn something that requires sustained effort; do something novel.” [ via daringfireball ]