Time flies with age

[Tabby]

Why does time appear to pass faster as you get older? I have one idea, but I'm interested in yours.

Tabby.

[BossyBoots]

I think it is because we become more aware of time e.g. getting to work, leaving work, what time the favourite soap is on and then to bed.  When we're young we have no concept of time, we only knew it was time to go home when family member was out in the street shouting for you.... that's my theory.  What's yours?

[Trillipse]

your perception slows down, your energy declines, what once was a day packed with hundreds of exciting random things now becomes a 16 hour drudge of boredom, misery and pain. life itself becomes a slow, draining mud of diappointment, each hour at work is a nail in your grave, working your fingers bloody to pay for the mansion of the tyrant who pays your derisory wage, and each hour at home is the splashing hideous flow of the theatre of cruelty that has become your personal life. your partner and children disgust and repel you, or, if you have been fortunate enough to avoid the shackles of a relationship, you sit and drain your petty, limp existence away, watching vile, sickening idiots with the same stupid dead eyes that stare back at you each morning in the mirror, as they demean themselves for cash in the black box which steals your precious seconds. all the time, the rushing, relentless horror in your ears, ripping the final years of a wasted life away from your broken, brutalised hands. and you weep quietly to yourself.

or maybe  Tabby, it just seems faster. although i must admit, einstein had it for me - relativity and all that. school summer holidays were fast, but maybe not as fast as that last hour before getting up on a work day.

[jno]

something to do with picking up speed as you go downhill?

[maxi29]

My guess is that when you're 7, say, a year is one-seventh of your entire life and consequently seems such a long time. Conversely, when you're 48 (gulp), a year is one-forty-eighth of your span and seems a much shorter period.

I like Trillipse's explanation though :-)

[MrsM]

I'd have to agree with Maxi29 - quite a brilliant answer!But then I am sure you know who I am anyway

[mycatis]

I think I heard somewhere that it's something to do with new experiences. when you are young nearly everything that happens to you is a new experience and so your brain takes in everything in great detail (so more information goes in in a shorter time, so making if feel longer) than when you are older. That made sense in my head!

[smudge]

My dear old Mum used to say that after reaching 21, the years whizz by. I never really thought too much about it until now - but how right she was!

[mycatis]

what was your idea Tabby?

[HAnn521]

My 2 cents would be this:

Perhaps time seems to fly the older we get because the older you get the more you think to the future, dwell on the future and plan for the future...

when we're teenagers, the future is unimportant.."live for the day" we said...well, as you get older and the end of college creeps near, finding a job becomes important, having secure emplyment, meeting someone to spend your life with, thinking about a family, etc...when you think about the future, the present seems to fly by!

[Trillipse]

Mrs M? I can imagine. Confirm yourself for me...

and i'm glad you liked my answer, i was feeling particularly upbeat at the time...

[Tabby]

Well, there are some great answers here.

Sorry to disappoint, but my own idea when I posed the question was exactly what maxi29 said! It�s nice to know other people have the same thoughts as you.

I really like HAnna521 answer, and I expect the real answer is a mixture of both.

Trillipse - wow - It may be a depressing view, but I think we can all empathise with your answer at some time in our lives.

Anyway, thanks to all for their contributions.
Tabby.

[kaktus]

Stephen King has written an excellent short story about this called My Pretty Pony. It's not bloody or gory or anything, but about a grandfather explaining his view of time to his grandson, If you like to ponder on why time�flies, I can higlly recommend this, well I would recommend it anyway, but since you're interested in time...:0)

[alli mac]

i feel like i went to bed last night being a 14yr old 2day i woke at 38 yrs old where does it go? oh how i long 4 yesterday!