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Don’t Worry, You Won’t Remember Being Stuck in Traffic

Time shrinks retrospectively.
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Let’s say you’re on a very boring airplane ride over to Europe. During the event it might seem like it’s taking a long time.  But in retrospect, once you’ve gotten off the plane, it’s like there was no time there at all. 

The reason is you didn’t lay down any new footage during the flight.  There was nothing new happening.  There were no events and so when you look back on it you can’t remember it at all. 

And that’s of course what happens during a typical workweek or when you drive to work.  You’re doing something that you do all the time. Time shrinks retrospectively.  But if you go off for the weekend to some novel vacation, a place you’ve never been before, then you look back and you think, “Wow, that was very long weekend!”

60 Second Reads is recorded in Big Think’s studio.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

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