General and Gaming > Off Topic
How do you deal with getting older?
tripredacus:
I don't think that time goes by faster or even seems so. I think it is in relation to how memory and recognition works. We tend to do things systematically (or via habits) that we may not even realise that is the case. Things you do by way of habit can have the effect of "not being remembered" per se when you do them. Think about those times when you ask yourself "Did I lock the door before I left? I remember locking the door or do I remember locking the door in the past?" Similarly memories that you have of your past, such as your childhood, are more likely memories of memories that you had. You remember remembering and do not necessarily remember the actual past.
How this relates to time going by faster is if you are not encountering new experiences, the brain doesn't necesssarily need to store that memory because it is already present. And as a result you only need to functionally remember less and this somehow seems to effect our perception of time.
That's my theory anyways.
emporerdragon:
--- Quote from: marvelvscapcom2 on July 01, 2025, 06:08:52 pm ---Idk if anyone else feels this but does it seem like time moves faster as you age? Seemed like days were 2 days when I was younger. Now it seems like no matter how much time I make. Plans I cancel. It's just wake up. And then its bedtime right after. Theirs this sense of too quick. Idk. Where it comes from.
--- End quote ---
It feels faster because the individual time amounts take up less and less of your overall life. Take summer vacation for example. To a 7 year old, that summer vacation is about 4% of their total life and all the memories contained. To a 37 year old, that same time period is now only 0.6% of their life.
Also, it doesn't help how much adulting can take out of your free time. Lawn needs to be mowed, laundry needs to be done, groceries need to be bought, etc., etc. So that 2 days off a week can wind up feeling like only a few hours free depending on how things stack up.
dhaabi:
--- Quote from: marvelvscapcom2 on July 01, 2025, 06:08:52 pm ---Idk if anyone else feels this but does it seem like time moves faster as you age? Seemed like days were 2 days when I was younger. Now it seems like no matter how much time I make. Plans I cancel. It's just wake up. And then its bedtime right after. Theirs this sense of too quick. Idk. Where it comes from.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: tripredacus on July 03, 2025, 08:58:11 am ---How this relates to time going by faster is if you are not encountering new experiences, the brain doesn't necesssarily need to store that memory because it is already present. And as a result you only need to functionally remember less and this somehow seems to effect our perception of time.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: emporerdragon on July 05, 2025, 03:00:30 am ---It feels faster because the individual time amounts take up less and less of your overall life. Take summer vacation for example. To a 7 year old, that summer vacation is about 4% of their total life and all the memories contained. To a 37 year old, that same time period is now only 0.6% of their life.
--- End quote ---
From what I've learned after being introduced to this topic years ago, the passage of time on a general level (so not just tied to personal life experiences) and how we perceive it is correlated to various things including the two listed above: the lack of new experiences as we age and the total amount of time we've experienced throughout life. However, everyone perceives time differently, meaning this principle of time moving more quickly as we age is not universally shared. It's a study rooted in human psychology that's old and widely discussed, and there are numerous academic papers about it, such as this one.
marvelvscapcom2:
--- Quote from: emporerdragon on July 05, 2025, 03:00:30 am ---
--- Quote from: marvelvscapcom2 on July 01, 2025, 06:08:52 pm ---Idk if anyone else feels this but does it seem like time moves faster as you age? Seemed like days were 2 days when I was younger. Now it seems like no matter how much time I make. Plans I cancel. It's just wake up. And then its bedtime right after. Theirs this sense of too quick. Idk. Where it comes from.
--- End quote ---
It feels faster because the individual time amounts take up less and less of your overall life. Take summer vacation for example. To a 7 year old, that summer vacation is about 4% of their total life and all the memories contained. To a 37 year old, that same time period is now only 0.6% of their life.
Also, it doesn't help how much adulting can take out of your free time. Lawn needs to be mowed, laundry needs to be done, groceries need to be bought, etc., etc. So that 2 days off a week can wind up feeling like only a few hours free depending on how things stack up.
--- End quote ---
This makes a lot of sense. That 2nd part hits home. I was just saying I feel like I spend more time at Walmart than my home lol. It seems like every 2 days the groceries are gone. And if I buy in bulk then I need something else or it spoils. Then it's laundry. Then it's car care. Then it's doctors, dentist or other health appointments. By the time I actually sit down with a video game at the end of the night my eyes are heavy and i'm falling asleep. Maybe get 2 hours tops.
Perhaps that's the issue im having. The boring parts of life are taking up maybe a good chunk so it feels like the memorable parts are actually small and rushed. I gotta try to time budget better.
But that other age correlation phenomenon is fascinating. It just feels wild lately. I feel like new years was about a week ago. Its that bad. Sorta out of body. I'm gonna try to focus more on the scope of time and less about the movement of it. Just another thing to add about how getting older sucks lol.
wowgek7:
--- Quote from: marvelvscapcom2 on July 01, 2025, 06:08:52 pm ---
--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on June 29, 2025, 01:00:15 am ---I recently had a birthday which puts me in my late 30s. I understand I'm still not old, and by conventional standards I'm not even middle aged yet, but one thing that has been on my mind a lot over the last year or so is how people deal with getting older.
it's a strange thing coming out of your late teens, 20s, and even your early 30s and most things are more or less as you remembered them, but then you realize one day they're not. Your relatives you've had in your minds eye as being around a certain age most of your life are now several decades beyond that, you start to hear more and more about people you knew personally dying, and even you aren't the same person anymore. You don't have the energy you once did, your body has all sorts of random aches and pains you never used to have, and you could have sworn you were just renewing your plates or paying your taxes a few months ago, when it's actually been a whole year already. I guess the passage of time and the reality of how much time has passed is starting to finally catch up with me. Does anyone else have feelings like this or have you dealt with this and somehow come to terms with it?
--- End quote ---
I think about it every single day when i'm alone. Damn... this hit the feels for me. I actually been feeling sort of out of body lately. Almost existential crisis. Like sometimes I just sit there and realize how finite life is... it feels like yesterday was y2k. Like monday was ps2 release date. it feels like Majoras mask. Where it's a game, all n64 and life as usual but then you look up and death is just there. When you start the game. That moon is far away. Easy peezy. No urgency or fear. You're a kid! But once you near 30, 40, 50 and I imagine especially 60 and 70. That moon is not exactly where it started anymore. And the reality of that is jarring. And it jars you the more you look up.
And things have radically changed with the advent of internet dependency. Which has not helped matters. It makes us lead very centralized and introverted psuedo lifestyles of speed. I find myself saying "these kids today" like an old grandfather and i'm not even 30 yet lol. It just has changed. Complex stuff like learning how to work a check book. Even something as simple as looking out the window every 30 seconds for a pizza guy. The excitement. Now we have an app to track it. Why wait at a mom and pop store. Amazon will do it quicker. Better. Theirs no effort required so I think life speeds up when theirs less to do. Less to see. It all feels like around 2010 or 2012. We all died at the same time. And everything after 2013 is just a bizarre dream. And this is a new life. Thats how different it is. But I know thats not the case.
Idk if anyone else feels this but does it seem like time moves faster as you age? Seemed like days were 2 days when I was younger. Now it seems like no matter how much time I make. Plans I cancel. It's just wake up. And then its bedtime right after. Theirs this sense of too quick. Idk. Where it comes from.
I guess we just gotta focus more on what is changeable. The quality of the life not the quantity. I know death can only bring us the answers of whats next. But its human nature to ponder it.
Sometimes the quote "dont be sad its over. Be happy it happened" make me feel better.
--- End quote ---
mostly this altough time does realy feel to go by faster and faster the older I get.
and hoenstly i hate getting older if I had the option to stay 20 for 20 years and then die i would take that over getting to 80.
the sad reality is that you cnat change it
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