Why years seem to pass faster as we get older
Proportionality
One year is a much larger fraction of a kid’s life than an adult’s. At age 10, a year is 10% of our entire life. At 50, a single year is only 2% of our life. The older we get, each year takes up “less space” in our overall lived experience. It feels less big, because proportionately, it is.
Memory Density
Our brains encode new and novel experiences with more richness than they do routine experiences. Childhood is filled with first-time events, while adulthood tends toward routine. Because we tend to have fewer “first experiences” as adults, our brain doesn’t have as many “memory markers” to flag.
Attention and Processing Speed
As we age, we process information more slowly and release less dopamine (a neurotransmitter tied to time perception). This means we may have less sensitivity to short intervals, making time feel as though it is passing more quickly.
Mathematical Modeling
Studies suggest our brains measure time on a sliding scale: as we get older, we become less sensitive to small chunks of time, so days and years feel shorter.
