A wise man once said, "Keep it simple stupid." I have not done that with any of my entries on "time." So, I'll try that with this one. "Chemical Time" is a made up term I'm using to describe the way humans view time differently. The question was asked, does time pass quicker for some and slower for others? The answer is yes, but this isn't due to genetics. It's due to chemical released in the brain. Let me discuss some experiments to illustrate this point.
A group of seniors were randomly stopped on the street and asked if they would participate in a science experiment. That experiment called for them to count to 60 seconds. The point of the exercise was to see how close they would come. Would they generally be go over 60 seconds or under? I think if we had to guess, we'd say that they would go over. Well, we'd be right. On average, the older crowd took too long (about 67 seconds). Now, let's flip this to the teenagers. The exact opposite was true. They counted to fast and were under 60 seconds. Why? Why did we already have a hunch how this would turn out? We know that old people drive slowly. They walk slowly. Everything tends to be slower. Is it just energy level? Could energy level be apart of the reason?
Let's look at another experiment. Ever heard of near-death experiences where time slowed down for the person? This is a difficult thing to test obviously because it requires someone being near death. An idea that was used was to place a watch-like contraption on a man's wrist and drop him from a long distance into a net. The man knows he will be fine, but the fear of falling overrides rationality. So it could work. The trick was that the contraption on his wrist would have a flashing number on it. The speed at which it flashed was so fast that it was unreadable to the human eye. The scientist wanted to see if it could be read while in mid-fall. Beforehand, the contraption was shown to the camera at its normal flash rate. I could not read it. So what was the result? The man read one of the two numbers correctly. So it "sort-of" worked. He got the first number right but missed the 2nd. I can tell you as someone who saw it beforehand, the only way to get even one number right was to guess correctly. It was simply too fast to see it. They tried it again and got the exact same result. He got a different first number right but missed the 2nd. I can't explain the miss of the 2nd number, but again, to even get one right seems to suggest that the myth of time slowing down is not actually a myth. When you're in a near-death experience, the brain releases chemicals like adrenaline which seems to slow down your ability to process information. This makes sense because in such an important moment, the ability to react quicker would result in survival more often than not.
The final experiment I want to tell you about involves some mice trained to hit a button at exactly 14-second intervals in order to receive food. The mice were trained to do this and could do so almost flawlessly. Here is the kicker. For this experiment, the trained mice were given shots of different stimulants. The first was given crack. The second was given marijuana. In humans, crack speeds up a person's actions while marijuana tends to slow them down. This is true of the mice as well. Instead of hitting the 14-second interval just like they used to, both were off. The one on crack hit the button too soon. The one on marijuana hit it too late.
What does all this suggest? The way we view time is different based upon what is going on in our heads. Time is truly relative. When you get behind a old person driving slowly, it's because his view of time and yours is different. In his mind, he is traveling as fast as you. How strange is that? What I mean is that he feels he is driving normally…so do you. I guess the good news kiddies is that you're gonna grow up fast and die slowly. That is, you become an adult quickly. Go through life normally. When you're older, time slows down for you to enjoy what you have left. At least that is the game plan. Ready…Break.
ps, This is the last planned entry I have for this series, but I guess I could come across something later.
pss, Go buy the new Angels & Airwaves cd and thank me later.
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