TIME FLIES

 
Dear George, 

 Here we are almost three months into 2023. Such a shock. I feel as if 2022 just zipped by. While we know that the January 6th insurrection occurred fourteen months ago, it feels like more recent than that. And I find it hard to believe that Joe Biden, our new-ish president, has finished over half of his term in office. I’m always amazed when I read that Hurricane Katrina occurred 17 years ago or that the World Trade Center attack was 21 years ago. In my own life I’m particularly astonished that it’s been thirteen years since I retired. Where did that time go? Likewise it seems not that long ago that my wife and I turned forty and not much longer than that that we first met as college sophomores. 

 Researchers have amply documented that younger and older persons differ in their perceptions of the passage of time. There are multiple ideas why this might be the case. In the first Psychology textbook (1890) William James proposed (as do many current scholars) that time seems to speed up as we age because adulthood involves fewer new and memorable events. For the little kid life is filled with novel and exciting things. Practically everything is new. In adulthood life becomes far more routine and familiar, and, in James’ words, days and weeks “smooth themselves out…and the years grow hollow and collapse”. In brief, the smaller the number of memorable events in a time period, the briefer we feel the time period has been. Curiously, I think of my grandkids, born in 2009, as having been alive for a long time, but the time since I retired in 2009 has gone by in a flash. 

 As do current theorists, William James also speculated that age differences occur because the amount of time passed relative to one’s age varies. For a ten-year-old, five years is half of their life — a long, long time. For an eighty-year-old five years is a mere 6% of their lifetime — a much briefer slice of time. This “ratio theory” suggests we compare time intervals with the total amount of time we have lived. 

 I haven’t seen any discussion of it but my hunch is that one factor may involve fears about mortality. The older people get, the less time they have left, the more they wish that time would slow down, and the faster time seems to be moving toward a feared outcome. For young children, on the other hand, the passage of time is desirable. Growing older and all the benefits associated with it are eagerly anticipated, and the long wait for such change is frustrating. For a nine year old it takes forever to turn ten. For a ninety year old birthdays arrive much more quickly than desired. 

 Now and then I think about how to slow time down. There do seem to be some possibilities. One way is to experience new things, e.g., learning a language or taking a French cooking class. Living a totally routine life makes time fly by much too quickly. 

 Experts also suggest that being “mindful” — fully engaged and in the moment — can make those moments seem longer. Finding joy and excitement in one’s here and now life will counter the attitude that “nothing much is happening” and “time is slipping by.” 

 I also think keeping better track of events stretches time out more. For several years I’ve been keeping a daily diary. I might have the impression that the month of January went by very quickly. However, when I go back and look over my diary entries for January, I realize that a lot happened over a fairly lengthy period of time. 

 Here’s one final suggestion that I make to myself. When one begins to panic because of accelerating time, it’s desirable to remind yourself that time is not literally getting any faster as you age. It’s all in one’s mind. 

 Love, 

 Dave 

 SOURCES: Anderer, John. Physics offers explanation to why time flies as we get older. studyfinds.org, Jan 20, 2022; Dwyer, Christopher. Why Does “Time Fly” as We Get Older? psychologytoday.com, Sept. 6, 2022; Lewis, Jordan Gaines. Why Does Time Fly as We Get Older? blogs.scientificamerican.com, Dec. 18, 2013; Sawyer, Abigail. Wy time flies so fast as we get older. biotechniques.com, Mar. 22, 2019; Wilson, Jillian. Time Flies By Faster As We Get Older. Here’s Why. huffpost.com, Dec. 16, 2022.