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> Another hunch that I have is that as you get older you tend to have less unique experiences I have read that explanation several times on different websites,

> Another hunch that I have is that as you get older you tend to have less unique experiences I have read that explanation several times on different websites, but I don't agree. Had a lot of new and unique things happening to me in the past decade (kids, moving, new job, new country,...). Times still flew. I have talked to friends about this and they have noticed the same thing.

spaetzleesser 5y ago
How old are you? These were new but now a new job or a new country is also a repeat. It gets harder and harder to find truly new things.
handrous 5y ago
I don't buy the "novelty" thing, either. Between high school and an evening job, about three of those years were the most regimented of my life, and high school definitely wasn't providing enough novelty, in any way, to make up for it. Yet those years felt extremely slow compared to now. I feel like I blink and a season's gone. Fall or Summer used to feel so long back then. And Winter, practically eternal. Now it's like, "wait, didn't Summer just start? Why are the leaves all turning?" Some time around IIRC 25, the effect really started to take off, and it's never gotten better, no matter how much my life is shaken up. [EDIT] and on shorter time scales, back then, tell me I've got an hour? Fuck yeah! Enough time to do several things! Now it's like... ugh, barely enough to even start something. Guess I'll putter and tidy the house until it's up, which'll feel like about ten minutes from now.
- spc476 5y ago
  Another way to look at it: by the time you graduate high school, you will have spent 1/4 of your life there. By the time you are 40, 10 years is 1/4 of your life. By the time you are 80, 20 years is 1/4 of your life. The relative portions of your life get longer the longer you live.
  - handrous 5y ago
    That's another way to look at it, sure, but it still doesn't seem to explain anything about why perception of time speeds up with age. That's true, but why does it matter?

spaetzleesser 5y ago

How old are you? These were new but now a new job or a new country is also a repeat. It gets harder and harder to find truly new things.

handrous 5y ago

I don't buy the "novelty" thing, either. Between high school and an evening job, about three of those years were the most regimented of my life, and high school definitely wasn't providing enough novelty, in any way, to make up for it. Yet those years felt extremely slow compared to now. I feel like I blink and a season's gone. Fall or Summer used to feel so long back then. And Winter, practically eternal. Now it's like, "wait, didn't Summer just start? Why are the leaves all turning?" Some time around IIRC 25, the effect really started to take off, and it's never gotten better, no matter how much my life is shaken up. [EDIT] and on shorter time scales, back then, tell me I've got an hour? Fuck yeah! Enough time to do several things! Now it's like... ugh, barely enough to even start something. Guess I'll putter and tidy the house until it's up, which'll feel like about ten minutes from now.

spc476 5y ago
Another way to look at it: by the time you graduate high school, you will have spent 1/4 of your life there. By the time you are 40, 10 years is 1/4 of your life. By the time you are 80, 20 years is 1/4 of your life. The relative portions of your life get longer the longer you live.
- handrous 5y ago
  That's another way to look at it, sure, but it still doesn't seem to explain anything about why perception of time speeds up with age. That's true, but why does it matter?