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My brother told me a theory many years ago that time perception is based on the number of memories we have and how they're stored. Imagine your brain being lik

My brother told me a theory many years ago that time perception is based on the number of memories we have and how they're stored. Imagine your brain being like a filing cabinet, which is empty to start with. Memories are stored as folders with as much space between them as possible. Time perception is created by the distance between memories. So the more memories you have, the faster time seems to have passed and be passing. No research or anything to back it up, just fun for me to think about.

holoduke 2y ago
I always thought the less memories you have the faster time has passed. The older you get the less new events are stored in your memory and therfor you have large gaps of nothing. A year has passed without much. As a teenager you have new experiences every day and therefor time feels slower.
- johnea 2y ago
  "Large gaps of nothing"? Haha 8-) You have obviously not experienced being "older" yet. I'm 64 and continuing to accumulate new memories and experiences everyday. And yes, a year seems like a month from middle age. So, just because you've reached the "old age" of 40yo, you've really just barely started middle age. It's amazing how millennial-centric the content is at HN. This also highlights why marketing is so focused on youth (which in the modern world runs until ~40yo). Lack of extended experience makes decision making irrational and able to be emotionally swayed. It's pretty clear to me (anecdotally) that the reason time seems to pass more quickly with age is because of the shrinking percentage of a person's total life that each new year represents.
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imjonse 2y ago
My totally unscientific model is that memories are run length encoded, so the monotonous periods' length is compressed, whereas if they are more diverse, the more info you have, so it needs an expanded storage which is proportional to the perceived time elapsed.
- ASalazarMX 2y ago
  This is my pet theory too. Routine home-work-home days pass by without much that makes them memorable, but there are weeks where so much happens they feel endless. It feels like we cram similar days in the same place as if memory space was precious.
pedalpete 2y ago
My understanding is that this is how it works. When you are younger, everything is novel, and therefore your brain is making and timestamping more memories. We therefore have a high resolution timescale of memories. As we age, we have less and less novelty. We learn less, have fewer first time experiences. Therefore, we lose resolution to our timescale as weeks, months, and for some, even years blend together.

holoduke 2y ago

I always thought the less memories you have the faster time has passed. The older you get the less new events are stored in your memory and therfor you have large gaps of nothing. A year has passed without much. As a teenager you have new experiences every day and therefor time feels slower.

johnea 2y ago
"Large gaps of nothing"? Haha 8-) You have obviously not experienced being "older" yet. I'm 64 and continuing to accumulate new memories and experiences everyday. And yes, a year seems like a month from middle age. So, just because you've reached the "old age" of 40yo, you've really just barely started middle age. It's amazing how millennial-centric the content is at HN. This also highlights why marketing is so focused on youth (which in the modern world runs until ~40yo). Lack of extended experience makes decision making irrational and able to be emotionally swayed. It's pretty clear to me (anecdotally) that the reason time seems to pass more quickly with age is because of the shrinking percentage of a person's total life that each new year represents.
- deleted 2y ago
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imjonse 2y ago

My totally unscientific model is that memories are run length encoded, so the monotonous periods' length is compressed, whereas if they are more diverse, the more info you have, so it needs an expanded storage which is proportional to the perceived time elapsed.

ASalazarMX 2y ago
This is my pet theory too. Routine home-work-home days pass by without much that makes them memorable, but there are weeks where so much happens they feel endless. It feels like we cram similar days in the same place as if memory space was precious.

pedalpete 2y ago

My understanding is that this is how it works. When you are younger, everything is novel, and therefore your brain is making and timestamping more memories. We therefore have a high resolution timescale of memories. As we age, we have less and less novelty. We learn less, have fewer first time experiences. Therefore, we lose resolution to our timescale as weeks, months, and for some, even years blend together.