Many people over 30 notice that time seems to fly faster with age. Summer, which seemed eternal in childhood, now flies by unnoticed, which is why the years fly by with amazing speed. Why does this happen? There are several interesting theories on this subject, substantiated by science. One of them is related to how our brain perceives information about the world around us. At a young age, we look at everything completely differently than after growing up.
Scientists have several theories about why time feels fast with age. Image source: IFL Science
How We Perceive Time
Many scientists believe that time seems faster to us as we age because our brains process information differently than they did in our youth. In the 1960s, psychologist Robert Ornstein conducted a series of experiments that showed that our perception of time is directly related to how much information we have to digest.
In his study, he found that when people were shown complex and interesting images, they perceived time as lasting longer than when they were shown boring images, even though the time they were shown was the same.
The more complex and interesting the information, the longer time feels. Image source: IFL Science
In another experiment, subjects listened to audio recordings filled with various noises, such as clicks or the sounds of household appliances. The more varied sounds they heard, the longer they felt the listening lasted. This suggests that the amount and quality of information we process directly affects our perception of time.
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Why childhood seems happy
But how does this relate to the fact that time seems to speed up with age? The fact is that as we grow older, our brain gets used to the world around us. As children, every day is filled with new experiences and discoveries – children notice every detail, whether it's a train ride or a walk in the park. Adults, on the other hand, are already accustomed to their routine and stop paying attention to little things. This means that children need more effort to process new information, and that's why time passes more slowly for them.
Children pay attention to all the little things, so time seems to last longer for them. Image source: Science Alert
As we age, the neurons in our brains become more complex, and signals in the brain are transmitted more slowly than when we were younger. As Professor Adrian Bejan noted, we experience the passage of time through changes in the way we perceive the world around us. When we are young, our brains process more visual information per day, and so the days seem longer. As we get older, this process slows down, and the days begin to “shrink,” seeming shorter.
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What is adult life like?
Another theory explaining why time seems to slip away with age is related to how valuable we consider each year. The more years we live, the less significant each individual year is compared to the total number of years.
To better understand, you can imagine how a year is perceived by a child: for a ten-year-old, one year is a whole tenth of his life, while for a 75-year-old, it is only a small part of his vast experience. Therefore, for an adult, a year flies by unnoticed, while for a child it drags on longer.
Memories also greatly influence the sense of time. Image source: psychologies.ru
This theory is also closely related to our memories. As researchers Muireann Irish and Claire O'Callaghan explain, memories play an important role in the perception of time. The clearer and more vivid our memories of past events, the greater the perceived time period.
As a child, every day is filled with new impressions that are stored in memory. But adults often live in a routine, and the past seems less vivid.
Over time, when the number of new impressions decreases, days and years begin to merge into monotony. That is why many advise trying new things, finding interesting activities to keep life rich and slow down the perception of time.
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With age, not only the perception of time changes, but also a person's appearance. Our website explains why older people get wrinkles and why they lose height. Be sure to read it to broaden your horizons!