Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How can you make subjective time go slower?

theoryengine.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 71 posts

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#41

Post by Waterluvian »

Have kids.

Not everyone would make a good parent or want to be one. That’s fine. There’s so many ways to live a whole life. But for me, becoming a parent made time simultaneously slow right down and race by.

I’m typing with one thumb as I rock my youngest to sleep so I’ll keep it short: you do countless things every single week that you probably never would have done again. And as they grow up those things constantly change. Variety keeps my weeks feeling absolutely loaded with meaningful segments. But it also flies by given how fast they grow as people.

Off the top of my head, this weekend only: climbed a playground, ran through a sprinkler, sidewalk chalk, played Mario 2, made trains from construction paper, remembered how to draw a star with one stroke. I danced and I sang.

It truly does slow life right down subjectively. I’m cherishing every moment. I didn’t think it was going to be this fulfilling.

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#43

Post by brokenmachine »

Waterluvian wrote: post #41

Have kids. Not everyone would make a good parent or want to be one. That’s fine. There’s so many ways to live a whole life. But for me, becoming a parent made time simultaneously slow right down and race by. I’m typing with one thumb as I rock my youngest to sleep so I’ll keep it short: you do countless things every single week that you probably never would have done again. And as they grow up those things constantly…

Good for you, man.

It's not for me, but it's nice to hear people who actually enjoy it, not just going through the motions because "that's what people do".

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#45

Post by cellular »

oh_sigh wrote: post #18

Just do new things. Go to new places, talk to new people, try new things. It can be as simple as not taking the same route to work/grocery store/etc every time. Mix it up. Some claim that time feels quicker as you get older because each passing minute is a smaller and smaller portion of your life(e.g. summer for a 6 year old is 5% of their life, whereas it is only half a percent of the life of a 50 year old). But I d…

I think both factors contribute. It's why my childhood occupies such a large amount of my mental memories. My brain had more dedication to those years.

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#46

Post by acjohnson55 »

I used to think that novelty the key to making time go slow, I now think there is a limit to this. I've had a couple jobs that are absolutely filled with novelty, where every day is pretty different from the last. At some point, it becomes a bit of a vortex. I know I've done a lot, but damned if I can actually remember it at the end of the day.

This also happened to me when spending six weeks backpacking in Europe. At some point, the novelty itself became routine. Another castle, another hostel, another view, another language, another transit system. I knew it was time to head back to home base when I felt like I was losing the capacity to be awed by things that were objectively awesome. A couple weeks of being stationary was all it took to get that back a bit.

In order to slow down time, you need not just novelty, but also changes in real circumstances.

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#47

Post by joubert »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #46

I used to think that novelty the key to making time go slow, I now think there is a limit to this. I've had a couple jobs that are absolutely filled with novelty, where every day is pretty different from the last. At some point, it becomes a bit of a vortex. I know I've done a lot, but damned if I can actually remember it at the end of the day. This also happened to me when spending six weeks backpacking in Europe. A…

the unexpected

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#48

Post by LanceH »

barbs wrote: post #29

> I’m sure you’ve noticed that 2020 has seemed longer than other years. I argue this is because of a disruption to so many of our routines. I would have thought most people would be feeling the opposite. After the initial disruption, life in lockdown has become a monotonous routine. I find it strange to be in September already.

I think any current year seems the longest to most people. Just as the current day does.

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#49

Post by saruken »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #46

I used to think that novelty the key to making time go slow, I now think there is a limit to this. I've had a couple jobs that are absolutely filled with novelty, where every day is pretty different from the last. At some point, it becomes a bit of a vortex. I know I've done a lot, but damned if I can actually remember it at the end of the day. This also happened to me when spending six weeks backpacking in Europe. A…

I know that feeling exactly. When my wife and I were traveling in the southwest US, we called it "vista fatigue" -- There are only so many times you can be wowed by even the most beathtaking views when there's another one around the next bend too.

Re: How can you make subjective time go slower?

#50

Post by beardbound »

vanviegen wrote: post #32

The article makes a few interesting points, but fails to make the distinction between the two modes in which one can assess the slowness of time: in the moment, and looking back. Doing something dull, repetitive, routine will seem to take a long time in the moment. However, looking back it won't leave the impression of a lot of time having pased, as your brain will compress similar experiences into one. The article a…

I wonder if it’s almost like memory compression. Repetitive data gets compressed much more easily than unique data. Looking back on boring tasks and jobs it seems like much shorter amounts of time than long trips even when the jobs were for years and the trips were for weeks.

These days I try to fill my free time with things I consider substantive. Projects, long leisurely meals with friends and family, interesting trips, good books, good food, etc. however at this moment some of those are in short supply so I’m trying to rekindle old hobbies like writing, tinkering, and music.

Post reply on HN