Why Does Time Go Faster As We Get Older?
Posted: Friday, August 08, 2008
by Philip Yaffe
It is a widely accepted adage that, "The older you get, the faster time seems to go." But why should aging have this effect? After all, there is the parallel adage that, "Time flies when you are having fun." But as we age, time flies whether we are having fun or not.
So what's going on?
I have recently been trying to understand the phenomenon, because for the past several years many of my days have been extremely long, yet the years still seem to be accelerating.
Some other comments had to do with getting religion. "I found God at the age of 30 and every day since I have been waiting to go to His kingdom. I am now in my 80s. Oh, the days have been so long, but the years have been so short." Again perhaps a partial explanation; however, since the phenomenon occurs just as well to non-believers as believers, it cannot be the whole answer either.
Many comments were philosophical. They said simply to accept the phenomenon and live each day to the full. Good advice, but again no advance in understanding.
I then turned to science. I typed in the search words "psychology of time". This turned up hundreds of articles, most of which were very technical, dealing with brain structure and functions, neurotransmitters and the like. To narrow the search, I typed in both "psychology of time" and "days are long". And got nothing at all!
Finally, I decided to sit quietly and ponder the matter myself. This turned about to be a wise decision, because I think I found the solution. It's really quite simple. It all has to do with "anticipation" and "retrospection".
Whatever the nature of our individual lives, we all anticipate things important to us. Then after they happen, we look back at them. For example, most school children look forward to the long summer vacation, which always seems to be an eternity away. Finally, it arrives. Then, almost before they blink an eye, it's over and they are back in school again.
Progressing from primary school to secondary school is another excruciating anticipation for a youngster, especially if the move is perceived as being an important step away from childhood into adulthood.
And so it goes. When anticipated, each new significant event seems to be excruciatingly far away. However, after the event, we regularly look back and exclaim. "Did it really happen that long ago?"
Our first love, our first heartbreak, driving a car, landing a job, marriage, etc. When we look forward, all these milestones seem impossibly far in the future. However once achieved, how quickly they recede into the past.
The older we get, the more milestones we have to look back on. So the farther and faster they appear to recede. So if sometimes the clock may seem to have stopped, the calendar always continues racing ahead.
For me, the high point of my life was joining the Peace Corps and serving as a volunteer teacher of math, physics, and journalism in Tanzania . I applied for a Peace Corps posting early in my senior year at UCLA. Processing the application took only about three months -- perhaps the longest three months of my life. It seemed more like three years. I was accepted and sent abroad for two years – the shortest two years of my life, because I was having so much fun.
When I returned to Los Angeles , I could hardly believe the adventure was already over. The first week back seemed extremely long, because my heart was still beating 10,000 miles away. However, the weeks rapidly became shorter and shorter, then the first year, then the second year, and so on. I couldn't believe it when the first decade had passed, then the second, and so on.
I went to Africa with the Peace Corps in 1965 and returned in 1967. More than 40 years ago!
I of course have had many other milestones in my life, which are all rapidly hurtling away from me. Even the most recent ones already seem to be covered in dust. I am now 65. I don't feel old, but somehow I just can't get my mind around the fact that many of these things already look like ancient history.
If accumulating milestones is truly the secret of the accelerating years, what do we do about it? Basically nothing; we just have to accept it. However, this is not necessarily a negative. True, the good things are coursing away faster and faster into the past. But so are the not-so-good things.
The story is told of the biblical King Solomon. He once called his wise men together and presented them with a challenge. "Find me a cure for depression." They meditated for a long time, then gave him the following advice. "Your Majesty, make yourself a ring and have engraved thereon the words: This too shall pass." He had the ring made and wore it constantly. Every time he felt sad or depressed, he looked at the inscription, which tended to lift his spirits.
"This too shall pass." Indeed, it shall. Whether positive or negative, nothing in life lasts forever, even if it sometimes feels as if it will. We are certain of this because we know even life itself doesn't last forever.
We are all born to die. What happens after that is the subject of considerable controversy. But whatever it is, we are certain it is going to happen, and that it will almost certainly be different from whatever we know today.
Since I am now in my seventh decade (I am 65), for me this inevitability will probably occur sometime within the next 20-30 years, and almost certainly within the next 40 years. This seems like a very long time. However, the years are accelerating, so when it does occur my most probably reaction will be: "What! Already!"
Philip Yaffe is a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a course in good writing and good speaking in Brussels , Belgium . His recently published book In the "I" of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional is available from Story Publishers in Ghent , Belgium (storypublishers.be) and Amazon (amazon.com).
For further information, contact:
Philip Yaffe
Brussels , Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 660 0405
Email: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com,phil.yaffe@gmail.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Wonderful article, Philip. I totally agree with your sentiments on why time flies as we get older. More often I am looking back than ahead. So many good memories to dwell on.thanks for sharing this great article with us.Sandra
I really like this article and would love to add a link to it from my blog.Thankyou for sharing.
I have linked your article to my wordpress blog and someone has left a comment there for you, at 'The Mind Perspective':From The Dyce,I really liked that article. I think you might be on the right track. I have found that life speeds up. I have wondered whether it is because as a younger man (child) I have not as many responsibilities etc. I do not have to labour over as many things therefore I have more time to let those thoughts languish and then pass, leaving time for more frivolous thoughts. This changes with age. I remember my 30th birthday as a distant memory. My 40th birthday like it was last month and my 50th birthday like it was yesterday. I suppose my 60th will feel like it was a year before it happens….or something! It’s a strange irony that as we perceive ourselves to have less time as we get older, we use that time to ponder the fact that we perceive ourselves to have less time! Not a problem when we were younger. Cheers for a great read.
I think that it has more to do with PERCEPTION of time. As we grow older a single year is a smaller percentage of the years we have already lived. For example; to a 5 year old, 1 year seems a long time due to the fact it equates to a huge 20% of the total life span so far and this is a huge portion.How ever to a 50 year old a year would be greatly quicker due to the fact it only makes up 2.5% of the total lifespan.So our perception of the time period that has elapsed is relative to the percentage it contributes to our total lifespan.....Codey
Probably because has we get older .. we don't want to get older.A Kid can't wait for his birthday . An adult wish the time would stop so that 30th birthday would never come.Plus it's simply experience.1 Years for a 60 years old mean a lot less than a 15 years old.If the human being had a life span of 20 Years . THose 20 Years would seem very long.20 years it's very young for the human being while for a dog it's very old. It's all about perception.
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