Comments by "RiC David" (@RiC_David) on "Why Life Seems to Speed Up as We Age" video.

  1. I've had stretches with lots of free time as an adult, having been in a four days on/four days off job for the last two years and it's still flown by much faster than prior years when I had less. I think that's because far more was changing in those previous years while things have been quite consistent lately - this has been the difference maker that I've noticed. Change home, job, relationship, lose someone close to you, these will all make it seem to move slower *when you look back*. In the moment, it still seems to pass quickly compared to childhood. I just think nothing can compare to the degree of change we're constantly experiencing as children and adolescents because we physically and mentally grow at such a staggering pace. Being 36, as I am now, vs being 32 is a psychological change only in that life events have altered me. Being 12 vs 16 is monumental - early secondary school vs leaving compulsory education (in the UK) and having to choose your own path (a major reason Americans consider 16-18 year olds closer to children than we typically do here) but even your physical self alone will be drastically different. In the last four years, I've cut my hair and grown a moustache/goatee...maybe look a touch older but that's about it.
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  2. I'm glad we can discredit the exponential increase theory, because nobody wants to be told that it will get faster and faster until your 60s go by in like two months. It makes sense that a year when you're 7 does not in fact go by significantly faster than when you're 5, which the theory would imply. Something of note that perhaps obscures our perception would be how, for me, my 20s seemed to go by about as fast as my 30s (too bloody fast) but the 20s felt longer looking back because ten years ago now I would have been 26 whereas ten years ago ten years ago I'd have been 16. The life changes between 16 and 26 were far more drastic than 26 to 36, so that decade feels longer than the last because it reaches into late childhood/adolescence. I experienced some major changes between 2016 and mid 2019 whereas my life's been largely the same from mid 2019 to today, so it feels like the latter years have sped by compared to the turbulent times. As you alluded, I'd much rather live through those recent years than the ones with a series of unwanted developments, but the trade-off is the existential fear of time whizzing by. The biggest things to slow time down that I've found are moving home, losing a loved one, changing jobs or starting a new relationship - they delineate different eras and stop it all blurring together. No doubt having a child would have this effect too, though I don't know how their seemingly rapid growth would affect things. Five years is a massive stretch in a child's life, baby to infant, junior to preteen, preteen to preadult - but from an adult's perspective, I guess it'd look like they're morphing constantly?
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  3.  @stirilm2817  You don't have a weak memory. I'm 36 and what you're describing is perfectly standard. There's always the one guy who says something to the effect of "No you're just a dumbass". They're wrong.
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