Time and Perception: Why Life Just Won't Slow Down

It’s not just you.

              Do you ever feel like life is rushing past you? Like you can’t remember how long it’s been?
Well, you’re definitely not the only one feeling that way. On that note, it’s also not (necessarily) your fault that this is happening. It’s actually largely due to the way our brains view the passage of time in different circumstances. There are two main reasons why life seems to be going so fast: The “shutter speed” of your brain, and the experiences you are going through.

 

How your brain works

              One of the reasons why you may feel like life is too fast is the speed at which mind processes images. The older you get, the more wear and tear your brain cells accumulate, leading you to process images slower (only by a little bit though). Think of it like a camera. If a camera takes video at 20 fps, but is still played at 24fps, it is sped up ever so slightly. Though effects seem minimal, this becomes more noticeable over time.

Memories and Monotony

              Say, do you remember what you ate for lunch two days ago? I don’t. This is because we tend to remember what we believe to be important or new, which may seem obvious, but also has a huge effect on our perception of time. For example, with the way my brain works, I might just forget people’s names so I can remember all the factors that affect an ecosystem. Especially with those still in school, we tend not to remember the small moments we had with friends, or what you had for lunch two days ago. Though it feels a lot longer in the moment, when we cut out all the “in-betweens” like this, life feels a lot shorter than it is.

 

What can we do about it?

              You may be wondering, “Is there any way we can combat this?” And there is. As cliché as it sounds, the best way is to “Stop and smell the flowers.” Stop thinking about what you have to do in an hour and live in the present for a while. I know that it’s really hard to stop thinking and planning (I personally struggle with this the most), just give it a try, I promise it’ll be worth it.

(This isn’t one of my posts for AP Lang, so don’t submit a comment from this to the assignment, but feel free to comment if you want to)