Do novel new intense things in your life, at literally any age, and you will remember them very well, and the feeling of how much time passes will change dramatically, I call it personally 'adding decades of life felt'.
When I did my 2 stints of 3 months backpacking all over India (and a bit of Nepal) around age 30, I wasn't prepared. Every day completely different than previous one, no strict plan just massive Lonely planet book and return flight ticket in 3 months, no phone, no credit card (2008 and 2010).
After few weeks, I felt like I was on the road for 6 months. After 2 months... hard to describe by mere words - the entire life back home, didn't matter which part or when, felt like literal memory of a dream you had last week, very hazy, somehow it felt real since I went cca 1x a week into internet cafes to check emails and yes those were my parents writing back, but were they? It felt brutally distant, and Indian/Nepalese reality felt like the only truth, that always was and always will be. Literal different life with reborn moment somewhere on a plane there.
I managed to recreate exactly same experience on a second visit, 100% since I behaved in same fashion. Much shorter stint in Tanzania afterwards lasting 3 weeks achieved milder effect of it - say it felt like 3-6 months on the road, its not linear how it scales. Did Kilimanjaro for 1 week, Serengeti/Ngorongoro another one, and last week on Zanzibar (way before it became cheap european holiday destination). Again, the key was novelty.
I still remember so many events, people, places etc. from those trips like it happened yesterday. I came back different, and made changes in my life for better, much better. Looking back, it was literal life (re)defining moment. I don't think I can recreate it easily these days, it would have to be done without phone again. But going there into some luxury resort, none of that would happen, its not about distance but how far out of your comfort zone you push yourself out for a long period.
Primarily, if I had to guess, it’s simply what we’re experiencing that makes time feel slower or faster.
Having fun? Time goes by faster.
Boring class? Time goes by slower.
Up all night with a newborn? Those first couple of years feel like a long time.
When that newborn is older and now you’re playing video games, riding bikes, and having fun? The saying goes, “They grow up too fast.”
Like how Christmas comes around slowly when you are a kid, but each year it speeds up a little because life has lost its new-ness. So then, your brain takes short cuts - like how when the first journey somewhere takes AGES, but after a few times, it feels a lot quicker (whilst being the same physical time)
The winter 1956 was indeed difficult in Finland. Because of general strike and Hungarian Uprising elementary things like Milk and Kellog's Corn Flakes were in short supply.
The brain may have up to 50% less neurons in adulthood than in infancy.
A child is simply experiencing more stuff at each moment of time than adults.
Because, their brain is actually firing more neurons, many of which might be redundant executions. Hence.. the need for pruning.
that is when you become aware of the repetition and rhythm of life
further the less compressible life is the longer it seems
same job for 10 years feels fast since nothing happens, but different jobs every year (good or bad) makes time seem long since there’s so much to remember
also the less you sleep the less you feel alive
It has to be due to how many HN readers are themselves children...