science Why does time seem to keep getting faster as you age?

[AlicornSpell 146]

When I was a kid, a year seemed to go by very slow. But as an adult now, a year seems to go by very fast. Why is that?

[AJ2489 2,855]

I've noticed this too. My main theory for this is as we grow up we are given more and more responsibilities meaning we are a lot busier than we used to be, making time seem like it's "flying by".

[Brony Number 42 10,069]

Stuff stops being new so your brain pays less attention to it.

[Usager 433]

58 minutes ago, Merry Brony 2A said:

Stuff stops being new so your brain pays less attention to it.

this.

thats why is good to always learn

[碇 シンジン 27,431]

Your brain has more memories to keep hold of as you get older but humans can only handle/utilize a certain amount of memories at a given time. So the memories get evened out on the timeline and the longer the timeline is the faster the time feels as the gaps between the memories get wider

So basically your brain omits the irrelevant stuff which makes it feel like times been moving faster as when you were younger you were able to recall more minute details at a given time as so much stuff had not been piled up on your head. Which allowed you to utilize those minute details making the time feel longer as you had more stuff lined up on that timeline.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Yu Ziyuan

[Midnight Solace 5,132]

It does? I actually feel like my life is so slow... I guess when you become older, you have too much stuff to think about rather than age.

[TBD 17,254]

Faster? More like the time's going slower for me, otherwise I would be dead already. 

Edited November 29, 2018 by TBD

[Ganondorf8 11,303]

I feel like time is moving way too fast and that it should be slowed down significantly. It's stuff like this that has caused me to suffer from 'age issues' for the past thirteen years resulting in me taking medication for it. I know nothing can be done about it but I just despise the idea of getting older.

[Here No Longer 5,276]

I think that's one of those questions that doesn't have a real answer.

[Dashy 4 Ever 4,835]

When we are younger, we do many more things and activities that keep us busy and makes time really slow. As you grow older and get a job, you stay there 8 hours, come home, and repeat until it feels like the whole day is only a few hours.

[Ganondorf8 11,303]

23 minutes ago, Bas said:

Med drugs...against time passing too fast?

Yep. It was prescribed to me medically some years ago and I still take it even now. It's not for just age issues but also personal problems such as depression, anxiety, etc.

[SharpWit 2,647]

I know the answer and it's very simple.

Every following year feels shorter because at the time of passing it's a smaller percentage of your overall life. We forget most of those first 5 years so it doesn't hit us immediately. Also you have many more deadlines and dates to keep a track of so you're more aware of time.

[Phosphor 11,529]

Time seems to be going faster for me. I've always thought it was because we take on more responsibility and are busier as adults. 

[Cirrus. 1,089]

2 minutes ago, SharpWit said:

I know the answer and it's very simple.

Every following year feels shorter because at the time of passing it's a smaller percentage of your overall life. We forget most of those first 5 years so it doesn't hit us immediately. Also you have many more deadlines and dates to keep a track of so you're more aware of time.

On top of that your brain gets (or should get) better at processing information and deciding what needs "saving" so you don't remember as much day to day.

[Jedishy 3,548]

4 hours ago, Merry Brony 2A said:

Stuff stops being new so your brain pays less attention to it.

This was part of a subject I had to learn about. Our perceptions and habits greatly shape how we experience time. Focus too much or become too unfocused and we either lose track of time or it seems tortuously slow. Sorta gotta Goldilocks the freaking thing and get it juuuuust right 

[Nsxile 26,939]

Hmm... I'm not entirely sure tbh.

[Lucky Bolt 35,063]

On 11/29/2018 at 5:46 PM, AJ2489 said:

I've noticed this too. My main theory for this is as we grow up we are given more and more responsibilities meaning we are a lot busier than we used to be, making time seem like it's "flying by".

^ I agree. 

[Misty Gust 708]

I always figured it was because of how much of your life has already passed. Think about, take a unit of time like a year. When you are 1 year old, a year was your whole life. When you were 2 it was half your life. When you were 3 it was only a third of your life. And it just continues like that with each given unit of time being a smaller and smaller chunk of your life.

[TBD 17,254]

Why would you not want it to go faster? I like it when times flies especially at work.

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

For me, anyway, it's because of work. I do the same routine for almost every day, almost the same activities for every day of the week, always looking forward to that next weekend. Even then, I don't really pay attention to what happens on the weekends, it's usually just some down-time so that you can reset your life for the next week. Most of my weekends blur together anyway, and then a month is gone, and then two months, then three, then six, then twelve, then eighteen...