Originally published at: Time Dilation - Apophenia
Have you ever found yourself wondering why time seems to rush by faster as you grow older? And yet, every so often, there’s a rare moment where it feels like time flows more slowly, reminiscent of how you once experienced it—but only for a short while.
Many theories attempt to explain this. One prevalent idea is that adulthood’s repetitive routines replace the novelty and excitement of earlier years, dulling the brain’s ability to create vivid memories and truly immerse itself in the present moment.
Here, “Time Dilation” refers to the brain’s subjective perception of time’s passage. This experience varies greatly among individuals and is influenced by factors like the brain’s dopamine activity, attention, emotional states, and exposure to new or stimulating experiences. These psychological components shape how quickly or slowly time feels like it is moving.
Unlike Einstein’s Time Dilation, which explains measurable differences in time caused by relativity and physical phenomena, this concept focuses solely on the human mind’s interpretation of time—an internal and deeply personal phenomenon.
Meanwhile, here are some more common theories that affect our perception of time provided by The Los Angeles Daily News
Theory 1: Proportional Time Perception
As we grow older, each passing year represents a smaller fraction of our overall life, making time seem to move faster. For instance, a birthday for a 10-year-old accounts for 1/10th of their life, which feels significant. However, for an 80-year-old, that same birthday is only 1/80th of their life, which is a much smaller proportion. This shrinking relative value contributes to the sensation that time is speeding up. As each year becomes a smaller percentage of the total time we’ve lived, it appears to pass more quickly.
Theory 2: The Impact of First Experiences
When we’re younger, life is filled with novel experiences — our first kiss, first car, first day of school, or learning to ride a bike. These “firsts” capture our attention because they’re new and memorable, causing us to focus on the details, which in turn makes those moments stand out in our memory. As we get older and have fewer new experiences, time seems to move more quickly because the repetition of similar events makes them less memorable.
Theory 3: Brain Function and Routine
This theory ties into the idea that the brain tends to group time together when daily life becomes repetitive. For someone who is older and follows a similar routine day after day, those days blend together in the mind, creating the perception that time is moving faster. On the other hand, days filled with new and exciting experiences feel longer because they are more distinct and stand out in memory.
Theory 3a: Neural Processing and Aging
As we age, our ability to process sensory data, particularly visual stimuli, slows down. This cognitive slowing makes it feel as though time is moving faster because our brain isn’t registering events as quickly as it once did. Therefore, “time isn’t speeding up; we’re just processing it more slowly,” contributing to the sensation that life is moving faster as we age.
This last theory specifies that the shifts in our processing speed highlight how our perception of time is dynamic. By understanding its variability, we can explore ways to stretch or compress our experience of time.
If you know how to influence your perception of time, you can gain a sense of control over it. Without this awareness, time may control you instead. To begin, it’s important to distinguish between absolute time—which is the actual, measurable passage of time, like the reading on a clock—and perceived time, which is how long we feel an interval lasts. When there’s a difference between the two, we experience what’s known as time dilation.
But what causes this mismatch between perceived and absolute time? Unlike other senses, time doesn’t have a single sensory organ dedicated to processing it. Instead, time perception arises from the brain’s interpretation of various sensory inputs, organizing them in a way that creates our subjective experience of time. What we perceive as time is the brain’s reorganization of this information, which often leads to the sensation of time passing differently depending on the circumstances. This is especially relevant when examining the effects of digital technology.
Many who blame social media and the internet for today’s societal issues often fixate on the content—political arguments, misinformation, comparison culture, or addictive algorithms—as the primary triggers of negative behavioral changes. They argue that it’s the nature of what we consume online that drives anxiety, attention deficits, and interpersonal tension. However, this narrow focus overlooks a significant factor: the electromagnetic fields (EMFs for short) emitted by the devices we use to access these platforms.
These EMFs may play an equally impactful role by subtly affecting our physiological and neurological responses, often driving agitation, fatigue, and distorted time perception even before we engage with the content itself. As a result, while the content on social media is certainly influential, the devices’ EMF emissions are also worth considering as a fundamental source of modern discontent that shapes our responses to these platforms and in social life in ways that often go unnoticed.
Any form of energy, including electromagnetic radiation, can alter the geometry of spacetime, typically affecting it on a local scale. Non-ionizing radiation refers to types of electromagnetic radiation that lack enough energy to remove tightly bound electrons from atoms or molecules, meaning it doesn’t ionize or alter the structure of the materials it contacts. This differs from ionizing radiation—such as X-rays, gamma rays, and high-energy ultraviolet rays—that has enough energy to break molecular bonds, which can lead to damage at a cellular or DNA level. Non-ionizing radiation, therefore, is generally considered less biologically harmful but may still impact tissues through thermal effects or cellular stress, especially at high exposure levels. Exposure to EMFs can trigger cellular excitation by prompting calcium currents similar to a popular daily stimulant like caffeine.
Types and Sources of Non-Ionizing Radiation:
Non-ionizing radiation spans a broad spectrum and includes:
- Radiofrequency (RF): Emitted by cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth devices, and broadcast antennas.
- Microwaves: Used in microwave ovens, some communication technologies, and radar systems.
- Infrared Radiation (IR): Emitted by heaters, night vision equipment, remote controls, and even warm-blooded animals.
- Visible Light: Generated by all light sources, such as sunlight, LEDs, and incandescent bulbs.
- Low-energy Ultraviolet (UV) Light: Found in sunlight, but lower in energy compared to ionizing UV.
Objects commonly emitting non-ionizing radiation include electronic devices (cell phones, laptops), kitchen appliances (microwave ovens), power lines, visible light sources, and certain types of medical imaging equipment like MRI machines.
When mitochondrial function declines or metabolic activity slows, calcium can accumulate unchecked within cells. This imbalance heightens the risk of excitotoxicity, a state where overstimulated cells initiate harmful stress responses. Under these conditions, certain enzymes become hyperactive, promoting the release of polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) and nitric oxide (NO). Both substances in excess generate free radicals that damage cellular structures, including DNA.
In systems already compromised by issues like hypothyroidism, diabetes, or mitochondrial dysfunction, even low levels of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) may amplify this destructive chain reaction. EMF exposure can further drive oxidative and nitrosative stress, weakening the cell’s defenses. Over time, the cumulative strain may trigger apoptosis, or programmed cell death, contributing to the deterioration of tissue and organ function.
The perception of time is closely connected to the nervous system’s activity, with specific neuromodulators like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin influencing how we segment and assess time intervals. Research on this type of time perception often involves adjusting the levels of these neuromodulators pharmacologically, allowing scientists to observe changes in time judgment. For example, raising dopamine levels can lead individuals to overestimate the passage of time, conversely, when serotonin levels are boosted—such as through the use of certain substances like cannabis—individuals tend to underestimate time.
The impact of dopamine on time perception is like “increasing the frame rate” on a camera, where higher dopamine levels capture more moments per second and make motion appear slower and more detailed. Conversely, Serotonin which is truly a vasoconstrictor, reduces cerebral blood flow, effectively stretching the intervals between perceived moments. This elongation makes the external world seem to pass more quickly compared to our internal sense of time.
The widespread presence of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) has hastened the onset of degenerative conditions that, in the past, tended to emerge more gradually with age. Historically, this slower decline often spared individuals from abrupt or erratic personality changes. However, in today’s technology-saturated environment, these negative aftereffects have become increasingly common, profoundly impacting mental and physical well-being for all age groups.
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The term “Apophenia” is described as the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between seemingly unrelated or random things, such as objects or ideas, and similarly deemed by psychologists as the human tendency to see connections and patterns that are not really there.