Why do the years go by faster as we get older?

dense

I remember being young and thinking I'd never get old.

The older I get the faster the years go by.
Sure, some days a minute seems like an hour but in general the days roll into each other then another month is gone.

Winterlong

Its all relative.

me_irl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHJ3iZpfBRI

bmwguy

When you are 5, a year is 20% of your life. When you are 10 it is 10%. When you are 50 it is 2%.

So time appears to move faster. Or so I believe.

super_furry

Think of it this way, when you were 16 eight years was half of your life. Now you're 40, eight years is a fifth of your life so those last eight years seem to have passed by much quicker than then the years between eight and 16.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cognitive Psychology maintains our early years are full of first-time events and we make more detailed and lasting memories of those first times. When the event is repeated, year after year, it is less likely to make a unique or lasting impression. Same with the first few days of a holiday seeming longer than the final few.

Arghus

Well, if you're five a year is a fifth of your life, but as you age a calender year becomes proportionally less of your lifetime. So it stands to reason that time should feel to be speeding up as you age.

Also you have less and less new experiences as you get older, everything becomes a bit more predictable and days melt into each other somewhat. Wheras when you are feeling the frequent shock of the new, time can stand still for you - at least for a while.

Mutant z

Realistically it passes by at the exact same speed, it only feels like it goes by faster, maybe because you simply get more and more aware of time the older you get.

It's all about the proportion of each day relative to the time you've lived thus far.

There are also fewer milestones as you age, making time less remarkable as you have fewer 'firsts'. It adds to the impression of time melding into a more continuous chain instead of it being punctuated by life changing events.

In our first year alone we have so many firsts, sitting, crawling, eating solid food, walking, first words, first experiences of the world and all that's in it. By the time we hit fifty, there isn't much that we haven't encountered before in some form or another and time is experienced less as a series of remarkable achievements and experiences and as more of an unremarkable continuum with fewer distinguishing moments or events.

riffmongous

I wonder if it's so simple as proportions, memories or being relative, or if our brain actually works differently to allow us to capture far more of our waking life at a young age so we 'learn' better

donegaLroad

I that case, would a life which is full of unique experiences, and not too much repetition seem to go by more slowly... maybe thats the key to slowing time down?

alberto67

It's all relative. The lower your fitness level and the poorer your lifestyle, the faster the years go by as you get older.

It's not longevity though, just the experience of time as opposed to the amount of it.

That said, my grandfather has had an extremely interesting and varied life and is as sharp as ever at 91, as well as being very fit.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

donegaLroad wrote: »

I that case, would a life which is full of unique experiences, and not too much repetition seem to go by more slowly... maybe thats the key to slowing time down?

To a degree yes.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

alberto67 wrote: »

It's all relative. The lower your fitness level and the poorer your lifestyle, the faster the years go by as you get older.

Can you expand on that, as I don't get the logic? I know aging people with enforced sedentary lives, due to illness or disability, where time seems to drag for them.

alberto67

Alanna Warm Raffle wrote: »

Can you expand on that, as I don't get the logic? I know aging people with enforced sedentary lives, due to illness or disability, where time seems to drag for them.

We usually don't expand in AH, but as there is some truth in your post I will make an exception...

The healthier and fitter you are, the more energy you have to engage in different activities and lead a full life. When you achieve many things in a day or a week, one week doesn't run into the next without noticing it's passing. A healthier body also leads to a more positive outlook.

Also when you are not active, an individual hour can seem very long but afterwards you've nothing to mark that day.

Grayson

Mutant z wrote: »

Realistically it passes by at the exact same speed, it only feels like it goes by faster, maybe because you simply get more and more aware of time the older you get.

Our experience of time does change as we get older. This has been shown with experiments. Older people do experience time moving faster.

Its when some memory suddenly pops in to you head and then you realise it was 40 years ago!! also its how your memory works for example I have a very clear memory of where I sat and what room I was in when I was in sixth year on the other hand there are whole decades I can remember very little of.

Mutant z

Grayson wrote: »

Our experience of time does change as we get older. This has been shown with experiments. Older people do experience time moving faster.

Yes thats what they experience but time is really the same length no matter what age you are, its just appears to be going a lot faster the older you get, the fact you are closer to death with every passing year also has a major impact on it.

riffmongous

Mutant z wrote: »

Yes thats what they experience but time is really the same length no matter what age you are, its just appears to be going a lot faster the older you get, the fact you are closer to death with every passing year also has a major impact on it.

It would depend on how fast your brain works, time will not change but if your brain can work faster time will appear slower

lawred2

dense wrote: »

I remember being young and thinking I'd never get old.

The older I get the faster the years go by.
Sure, some days a minute seems like an hour but in general the days roll into each other then another month is gone.

Because nothing is new anymore. Our minds are largely on auto pilot.

It's not like that when you're a child.

Jesus Wept

Time is a construct.

Ally Dick

It's down to being an adult and having a 9 to 5 job that is similar every week. When you are young and at school, every day appears different.

eeguy

Ally Dick wrote: »

It's down to being an adult and having a 9 to 5 job that is similar every week. When you are young and at school, every day appears different.

Just mix it up and try to experience new things. The more variety the longer your weekend feels.

B.A._Baracus

The days, weeks, months and years do get "faster" the older you get. You only realise that when you start getting on a bit.

When you're 21 (etc) you can't grasp that. but to be honest what annoys me when things like this are mentioned is the whole "but time is the same for everyone!" comment - yes we get it jackass :pac: but older you get the weeks, months and years just go by so quickly.

Jesus Wept

Ally Dick wrote: »

It's down to being an adult and having a 9 to 5 job that is similar every week. When you are young and at school, every day appears different.

School was like prison to me.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Jesus Wept wrote: »

Time is a construct.

Jesus Wept wrote: »

School was like prison to me.

Did they not teach you that Newton’s gravitation, Maxwell’s electrodynamics, Einstein’s special and general relativity, and quantum mechanics all function due to the element of time? The second law of thermodynamics would be dysfunctional without it.

The measurements of time are man-made but actual time is not. It's no more abstract than distance.

Ubbquittious

I wonder if you somehow manage to live to 1,000 or 10,000 years do you sit there in your armchair just watching the sun rise and set in what seems like 5 minutes to a normal person?