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When we’re younger, time tends to feel as if it drags on forever. Think of those long, lazy summers that seemed never-ending, or how it could feel like an eternity watching the clock tick away and waiting for the final school bell to finally ring. But as we grow older, many of us feel like time is moving more quickly. This curious phenomenon has nothing to do with any change in the measurement of time, of course; a minute today is the same length it was 50 years ago. According to some scientific theories, this sensation actually has to do with how our brains process the experiences around us, which changes as we age, leading to a feeling of increasing rapidity. Let’s take a look at some potential explanations for this odd yet seemingly universal experience.
Experiments Have Revealed How We Perceive Time Differently
In the 1960s, psychologist Robert Ornstein conducted a series of experiments leading up to the publication of his 1969 work On the Experience of Time. Two tests were particularly notable: In the first experiment, Ornstein showed subjects two diagrams — one with a complicated design and another featuring a comparatively simple pattern. Subjects were presented with each image for an identical period of time, but when asked which one had appeared for longer, test subjects chose the more complex diagram.
Ornstein also conducted a second experiment with audio files featuring clicking sounds and basic household noises. Some of the recordings were more intricate, containing more clicks produced at a quicker frequency. When Ornstein asked his subjects to tell him which audio file was longer, they chose the more complex one with the greater number of sounds.
Ornstein concluded that across the board, people’s perception of time appeared to slow down when they were presented with greater amounts of new and complex information. He posited that our brains require extra time to process unfamiliar experiences, resulting in a feeling of time essentially moving in slow-motion.
Childhood vs. Adulthood
So what do Ornstein’s experiments have to do with time slowing down as we age? Well, when we’re young, our days are filled with first-time experiences rife with complex and often novel information that our brains work hard to process. There are countless new lessons to learn, new locations to explore, and new sensations to feel. In the context of Ornstein’s experiments, these are akin to seeing the more complex diagrams or hearing those more detailed audio files.
When we’re younger, it takes time for our brains to take in and process all the sights and sounds we’ve never experienced before. This overwhelming flood of knowledge may contribute to the sensation of time moving more slowly. As we grow older, however, we often find ourselves falling into familiar routines. Days, weeks, or even months can pass in which our lives remain largely unchanged. Our brains aren’t working as hard on a daily basis to process and analyze new experiences, so time can feel to be moving faster.
This is all subjective, of course, as some older people may actively seek out stimulating activities that keep the brain active and therefore help “slow things down.” But generally speaking, time tends to blend together more and more as we age, when it isn’t broken up by fresh, original experiences as frequently as in our younger years.
How Our Brains Change as We Age
Even if you make a concerted effort to seek out challenging new experiences as you age, your perception of time will likely still be affected by the inevitable changes to your body and brain. Older folks often experience time more rapidly due to physical changes in the neural receptors, which become larger and more complex as we mature. These changes mean it takes longer for signals to traverse the nervous system and reach the brain, so our bodies are unable to process details as efficiently as in our younger days.
As Psychology Today explains, younger people are physically capable of processing more mental images than their older counterparts, whose brains function less efficiently as they age. Let’s say there’s a 15-year-old and a 65-year-old who are both witness to the same experience over the course of one hour. When looking back, the teenager will likely recount more vivid memories than the adult, given the capabilities of their brain. The teen may feel as if they’re recounting those events in slow motion, considering all of the details they can recall.
The adult, on the other hand, may remember fewer details, and so it may seem like that time flew by. In other words, younger people recall past memories as if they were watching slow-motion footage, which allows them to look at every minor detail. But for older folks, certain details may be missed entirely as the footage flies by.
Another possible explanation for time appearing to speed up is a concept called proportional theory. Essentially, this theory suggests that the way we perceive time is related to the amount of time we’ve already experienced. Younger people have been alive for less time, so each new experience seems more substantial in comparison.
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No Singular Answer
There’s still a great deal of uncertainty as to exactly how the human brain functions, and, in turn, why time seems to speed up as we get older. But researchers who have studied this topic generally agree that new and unfamiliar situations can make time seem to slow down. If you’ve begun to feel like the minutes are flying by, try exposing yourself to something new, such as a trip to somewhere you’ve never visited, learning a new language, or even stopping into local restaurants where you’ve never eaten. These may help you “slow down” and allow you to soak up each moment like you did when you were younger, when the world was a less familiar place.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism Media, and previously contributed to television programs such as "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Impractical Jokers." Bennett is also a devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
