Why time appears to speed up with age

I think there might be some experimental data in support of the fact that (at least some types of) neurons get slower as we age, though I believe it was for metabolical reasons not due to connection length. I still think you might have a good point there not only due to that cellular slow-down, but also because I would certainly expect an increase in connection density, thus leading to longer computations.

I seem to recall an article from Joel on Software about the same phenomenon from a procedural point of view, where he compares increasingly complex institutional reaction times to the increasing amount of ritual that is being performed before we leave the house (with old people taking the longest time, because based on past experience of all things that went wrong in the past, their checklists before leaving the house become absurdly long over time).

Just an interesting side observation about the VLC speed thing: my personal sense of rhythm has always been so bad that I couldn't tell the difference between 100% speed then and 80% speed now. But an observation I recently made was that I can now comfortably listen to videos at 110% or even 120% their speed without losing content - something I certainly couldn't do at a younger age (in fact, I remember I often had to pause recordings in order to think about stuff that just happened or even just to empty my "language recognition buffer" before I could move on). So while it may well be true that 1 second doesn't last as long for me as it used to, I certainly seem to have become more efficient at processing some types of data.

As someone who's in his fifties, I can say that while this is an entertaining concept, it doesn't really map correctly. At least not for me.

The passing of time has always seemed to me to be more of a function of memory.

When I was younger, my memory was _much_ better. And much more vivid. It was in HD. I noticed by the time I was in high school that not only was my memory worse, but that it was of much lower quality. Interestingly enough, though, I noticed that early memories, while less vivid than I remembered them, were often still more vivid than more recent memories. By the time I was in my 30s, things were much worse. My doctor assured me that this was normal, and by the way, expect it to get worse still.

My father, who is now 96, can remember things vividly from 80 years ago and more, but can't remember what town he is living in at the moment. He can remember chemistry and physics he learned long ago, but now he has trouble working the new flat panel TV we bought him. (This is only partly the fault of age, the UI experience on the TV is worse than abominable. Steve Jobs would puke.) This is interesting, because he _built_ the first radio that he ever owned, back in the 1920s.

The most heart breaking thing recently, is that my mother passed away a few months ago. She'd been with him constantly for the last 65 years or so. And he keeps looking around for her, and then after a moment remembers she's gone. He often doesn't remember the event, but it is still fresh as a state of being, even after several months.

So for my father time's passage seems instantaneous and never changing.

Duration is yet another issue.

Current time, you know, right now, passes for me at more or less the same rate. It's much more effected by things like boredom and engagement than anything else. If I'm waiting on something, things can take forever. If I'm doing something, it can go by in a flash.

I'll just pick this one: it's almost as if this article was partly whimsical, and the idea was to inspire, not prove anything. And the aesthetics of both the formula and the argument are actually the point here. It's a kind of entertainment, not really science, and that's how it's supposed to be.

Also, this is Everything2, the article is from 2001, when there still was 3 people who knew what Everything2 is.

I also agree. When we get older, we establish a routine: get up, go to work, do errands, etc. When we're young, yes, we might have some routines but we're constantly meeting new people, learning new things, and facing fresh, new situations. For me, ever since I graduated, the past 6 years have been one HUGE blur...

The key to slowing down life is variety. As a child every year was distinctly different: even today I can remember each school year because I had a different teacher, a different homeroom, etc. As an adult each of my jobs has been on average 4-6 years. Each job is a bit of a blur; the years at the same job are difficult to distinguish from each other. To slow down time, make sure you do different things each year: trips, projects, roles at work, etc. The more your mind can distinguish the years, the slower time seems to move. Try it - it works!