What is Digg?84 Comments
- MikeZila, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Max Payne can. I've seen him do it.
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The implication here isn't that humans actually slow the progression of time, but that our perception quickens, making time *appear* to pass slower.
Oddly, I've noticed that if I record a guitar track without a metronome, it feels much slower when I play it then when I listen to the recording afterword -- implying that I think faster while playing. - bulletseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hasn't it ever happened to you guys that when you look at the seconds hand in an analog clock/watch, if the hand had just ticked right before you looked, that first second seems to take forever? The subsequent ticks then fall into time normally. I've always wondered what causes that in our perception...
- tastypastry, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I've done it....on mushrooms.
- rekrapt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There was an article not too long ago in Wired Magazine about this physics d00d who claimed that time was a function of biology and didn't really exist in the physical world. Not sure I understood it myself, but this article would seem to support that theory.
- dimatt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2'Time, a four-part series, starts on BBC Four on Sunday 26 February, at 2000 GMT. '
I think i'll watch that - bryantee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cool, except for the statement at the end. I hate when people says time is only something we create in our minds. It is woven into the vary fabric of space. We are always traveling through space and time at a combined rate of the speed of light. When we accelerate through space, we are moving through time more slowly. At least, that's what special relativity says, but that's a whole other story.
- mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I don't know about slowing time, I would have to see the experiment but I would say that the rush of adrenaline enahnced his body and allowed for more precise viewing of the watch. It may only appear to slow down becuase we can sense more things in less time.
And time does exist because otherwise all events would happen like a universal now, time is the order in which things happen.
And I don't think it is a fact that the second comming of Christ is around the corner, I checked my Christ watch and the big hand is on the 9 and the little hand is on the 3. - JohntB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1cheeseness:
It's not normal for people to wake up that early. At least, most people don't fall asleep that early and wake up that early. As for desirability, they said they didn't like it, so it was undesirable for them. You may like going to sleep that early, but they do not. - gooru, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The only thing that bothers me about the article is that in one place it says "33 metres" but in two other places it says "33 ft".
- Cheeseness, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Acquaintances of mine, a married couple, appear to suffer from the same syndrome as do the father and daughter mentioned in the article."
I myself am an early riser (out of choice as far as I'm aware), and I often find the attitude that this is something freakish rather offensive.
Did anybody consider that these people may be happy the way they are, and that labeling and assigning the word 'syndrome' (which has rather negative connotations) is not the best way to give the impression of an accepting society?
Yes some people may have a genetic predisposition towards certain sleep patters, but as complex organisims, I'm fairly certain that we're genetically predisposed to do many things (eat, sleep, breathe, etc.).
Scientifically it's interesting, but the tone of this article seems to imply that it's not natural or normal to be rising early. I for one find having the opportunity to witness every sunrise and spend several hours of peace and quiet before the rest of the world wakes up a very rewarding part of my lifestyle.
I expect that Clay and Bethany find it rewarding as well.
"I think Bethany and I are very close because we've had those early mornings together." - T_dude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Time doesn't even exist. The only reason we have time is because time started when Christ rised from the grave, and time will end at the second coming of Christ..."
That's the most oversimplified and tragically flawed assertion I've ever seen. And I've been reading comments on Digg for a year or so, so that's really saying something! - lysdexic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Anyone whos done a fairly high dose of mushrooms can tell you the brain definately controls our perception of time."
The brain controls our perception of everything. - RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Heightened state of alertness != "slowing down time". It's a perceptual thing, nothing more.
- Agent_M, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I found the comments more interesting than the main story, which was already fascinating by itself. I am a little skeptical of the experiments though.
- pal32i, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sorrrry !
But I'm not getting any younger by reading this article - Henge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, the problem is that they proved this theory on the one and only Chuck Norris, who we all know does whatever the f--- he wants, including slowing time down.
- kafka47, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0All my life I've been unable to sleep early or wake early. It can be very very frustrating trying to be "normal", even though I'm highly productive during the wake cycle that is normal for me.
- bensales, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Pretty interesting, I think this is related to time compression in dreams. In that, you can fall asleep for 5 minutes and have a dream that seemed to have lasted for many hours.
- spaceman0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0looks like most people here have never done psychedelics. Time is what we make of it, or as Aldus Huxley put it nicely in Doors of Perception - "There's plenty of it". Anyways, if you want to see it for yourself, take a little trip :)
Also I always suspected that perception of time also has to do with body size.. bigger animals move slowly, tiny insects buzz about... etc.. plants seem to live in very slow times indeed. - asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anyone who uses recreational drugs already knows this. When intoxicated on Marijuana, time noticably slows down. All your senses are slowed way down.
Sometimes on Acid (LSD), I am able to control time. I can make it stop, move it backwards or forwards. If I trip too hard, time loses all meaning. This is as hard to express in words as it is to comprehend if you're sober. All I can say is that it feels like everything happens in an instant, but our brains are laggy and everything is in a queue. Our lives are one instant moment, but it takes years for our brains to take it all in. - XDataBurn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anyone in the UK wanna capture the show when it airs on BBC 4 at 2000 GMT, torrent it, and post it?
- ericmoritz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I used to use this to my advantage when in high school. When I was on break at Winn Dixie, I'd stare at my wrist watch to make my break feel longer. Because we know that when you watch the clock for something to happen, it takes forever to get here.
- mzhao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can mentally quicken time...on accident. It's not a concentration issue or anything.
- mckinnej, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've experienced the opposite of time compression many times, especially when I'm having fun, like getting a blowjob. Those always seem to finish too quickly. =8-O
- manano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I remember asking my parents what happened to time that had gone by...... I guess partially, I know the answer to it now :-)
- PomPomMono, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hm!!! This explains why my bf can't wake up before 2pm!!!
Must foward the link. - Marfanity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Time continues to move at a constant rate. It's just the adrenaline "overclocking" your brain's processors for a short time, allowing more calculations per second.
- MedHead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Time is constant. Our interpretation of it changes. This article is inaccurate.
- sweeper1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0In the experiment I dont think the guy "saw" the world slow down...More like his fight or flight kicked in and the body naturally kicks up the juice to be more agile and perceptive....Thus enabling him to see the number that he wasn't able to see before.....The leds didnt slow down because he was scared....He was able to see them because his body was more perceptive....
- michaelfoley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I once heard the phenomenon of experiencing the dilation of time in a crisis situation as "second degree panic" yet google returns nothing for that search. It could just be that a small percentage of the population reacts to the adrenalin surge from the fight or flight reflex. I believe I have had the experience a few times, but it does not happen consistently every time there is a crisis.
- yukevster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, LSD does take away a lot of the perception of time. Is it one minute one hour, or two days that have just passed etc. Have I been looking at my hand for an hour or just a few seconds - you have no idea on LSD.
- cduquette, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Did anyone stop and think that maybe the body is releasing adrenaline when he's jumping from ledges and actually improving how many frames a second he views? Fight or flight like sweeper (and others) said.
There have been stories of loved ones being trapped under cars and people by themselves managed to flip cars over. The cars didn't become lighter. Good experiment idea though, kudos for that.. - RustyBurrito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That's a pretty cool experiment indeeed. There's so much about the human mind that we don't know yet!
- VictorV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Fools, dont you know time is an illusion that the government uses to trick us and control our minds!? But realy, when I am doing something that makes me feel alot of emotion the edges of my vision blurs and I kind of act on reflexes. For example during a basketball game in a fast break I had the ball and it was 5 seconds till half time and if I scored it would put us ahead. I ended up scoring, but in the process time seemed to slow down and the edges of my vision blurred.
- trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've done it when I'm bored in class and stare at the clock really hard, I swear the second hand moves slower. Then I realize wth do I want time to slow during time and stop...
- GuyNextDoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This isn't super-relative, but it is from the comments section of the article that I particularly liked:
"While the case described is clearly an extreme one, it's not news to some of us that body clocks vary widely. I have the opposite problem: I have always found it extremely hard to get up early, and even if I do I am rarely functioning properly before late morning. On the other hand, I have no difficulty staying up late: I am rarely in bed before 1.30am, and am frequently still awake at 3am or later. Even if I'm lacking in sleep, I usually find I become more alert at 10 or 11 in the evening, which usually thwarts any plans I might have had for an early night. I have frequently been labelled lazy for my reluctance to get up in the morning, even though I don't think I sleep for significantly longer than most people do, and I'm sure there are those who regard me as dissolute because of my late night habits. I have frequently been told that I would feel so much better if only I went to bed earlier, but I simply don't think this is true - any more than it is that people who are at their best in the early morning would feel better if they tried to imitate my sleep pattern. Our society is not set up to deal with people with naturally different sleep rhythms, and I am convinced that society as a whole (as well as the people concerned) suffers as a result. Enforcing standard working hours of nine till five will not produce the best results if a significant proportion of the workforce is not functioning at full strength until 11am or later. The advent of flexi-time is a big help, and some of us are lucky enough to have jobs that allow us to plan our own time, but there are many who are not so fortunate, and spend years feeling permanently exhausted as a result of being forced into an unnatural sleep pattern by a world that for some unfathomable reason regards being awake early as somehow more virtuous and valuable than staying awake late.
Meriel, Oxford"
Good one Meriel! - sosuke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The real mystery is why does time only "flow" in one direction?"
The path of least resistance is forward? Momentum? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Those always seem to finish too quickly"
n00b! - KUKBAHLAM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I experienced this phenomena after judging competitive fencing for about 4 years. Its not that you recognize time slowing as much as you could see everything in great detail even though people were moving at high speed. People with less experience would watch and just see a blur.
A similar thing seemed to happen while I was working as a programmer for a Telcom. I would think in DBC and people would come into my office and have to “wake me up” when they needed something. This was more distinct and minimally unpleasant while I hardly gave a thought to it while watching a bout. - vertigoblue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It happens to me sometimes when im playing paintball
- Jonsey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Their saying time slows down when your in terrify situations, like a car accident. I was in one about 2 months ago and I never saw it coming! It happened fast!
- tomhung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Is there a correlation between heart rate and keen perception?
How about a bird of prey? Their perception has to be higher than humans.
If we could just increase the heart rate (take speed) would we be a better fighter pilot? - CrazyForSW, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That is well worth a digg, and a very interesting read.
- stumpadoodle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this is gonna sound silly, but it's actually happened to me while playing DDR...most people are likse woah my brain can't even process all those arrows flying at once but they start to look slower and your brain ust takes them in once you get used to it...
- rholo13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've read in Scientific American about this. There is a hormone in the brain that regulates the passing of time, even if you aren't aware of it. When you are excited about something, happy or falling from a tower, the hormone drips slower and it seems like less time goes by. When you are bored more hormone is released, or at shorter intervals i should say, and it seems like this boring meeting you've been in has lasted two hours, instead of one. It was from a special issue about time.
- icoms, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0the SALVADOR DALI's melted clock symbolizes exactly this.
- Krumley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A pilot I flew with once described all the thoughts that he had time to think when his jet struck the ramp of a carrier on a night trap, and the guy in the backseat had to "pull the handle" to eject them both: He wondered why the canopy was coming off so slowly; "Am I actually going to die in this G**D****d airplane"; and so on. He said that he could see the carrier's island lights under the front bow of the canopy as it "slowly blew off". He went from "everything's ok" / normal time perception to time compression in a split second. He was able to describe split-second events in detail- There are many such time compression stories told amongst pilots.
- rholo13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0September 2002 issue about Time, article on page 58. This quote is from page 60, "Recreational stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine increase the availability of dopamine and make the interval clock speed up, so that time seems to expand. Adrenaline and other stress hormones make the clock speed up, too, which may be why a second can feel like an hour during unpleasant situations. States of deep concentration or extreme emotion may flood the system or bypass it altogether; in such cases, time may seem to stand still or not exist at all." It is a good issue if you can find it.
- petedee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So that's why i can't wake up before 12...
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