By Jonathan van Bilsen
Have you noticed how the second week of a two-week trip always seems to slip away faster than the first? It is as if time itself speeds up the moment you settle into your surroundings.
After much thought, I believe I have uncovered the reason behind this phenomenon.
Frustrating as it is, there is nothing we can do to slow it down. The answer lies in how our brains process new experiences. During the first week of a trip, everything is fresh, and your mind works overtime to absorb it all. By the second week, the novelty fades, and your brain shifts into autopilot, processing familiar stimuli more efficiently.
This is similar to how time feels slower during a thrilling first-time experience, like skydiving. The intensity of the moment stretches your perception, making it feel longer than it is.
Time itself has long fascinated me. Take the sound of a pendulum clock, for instance. What we hear is not actually ‘tick-tock’, but rather ‘tick-tick’. Our brains, eager to make sense of the world, create the illusion of a two-tone rhythm. This trick is not limited to clocks; it is why we use playful expressions like ‘ping-pong’ or ‘flip-flop’. The mind seeks balance, even where none exists.
Then there is the question of time travel, a concept which sparks endless curiosity. What if we could step into the past or leap into the distant future? Meeting our ancestors or witnessing the world centuries from now, is an intriguing idea. Yet, understanding how time operates remains a challenge. While physicists like Albert Einstein revolutionized our understanding of time with the theory of relativity, many questions remain unanswered.
Relativity showed us time is not fixed. It can slow down or speed up depending on factors like gravity and velocity. This makes certain types of time travel possible. For instance, moving into the future is achievable, as demonstrated by the twin paradox.
Imagine one twin travelling through space at near light speed while the other remains on Earth. Upon reuniting, the spacefaring twin would be younger, having experienced time at a slower rate due to their velocity.
So, in the end, time is not just a number we track on our phones. It is a deeply personal experience, shaped by both our perceptions and the very physics of the universe. Remember when your parents or grandparents would say, “The older I get, the faster time seems to go.”
That is precisely why I have refused to leave the seventies. Groovy, baby. baby? Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, award winning photographer, published author, columnist and keynote speaker. Watch his show, ‘The Jonathan van Bilsen Show’, on RogersTV, the Standard Website and YouTube and follow his adventures at photosNtravel.com
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