I always seem to be able to know what the time is (give or take a minute or two).
If im sitting down watching TV, someone can just walk in and ask the time and i’ll respond with something like “2:43” then i check the time on my phone (cell) and it will be close to the exact time.
I seem to be like this all time time.
Is there a name for this?
Anyway i can fine tune this so my ability is AMAZING?
I’m guessing you just have a very good concept of time. Could you do it without a recent reference? For example, could you be without a clock (or even a TV or radio to notice the passage of time) for an hour or so and still be able to do it? Or could you wake up (without an alarm of any sort) and not look at a clock for a while and still be able to do it.
You may also unconsciously glance at a clock fairly regularly. Without realizing it, you may check the time every 5-10 minutes, and therefore always have a within-three-to-five minute awareness of the actual time.
Either that, or you are Swiss.
Do an experiment. Wake up one morning and do not look at a clock. Then from time to time have someone ask you what time it is, and have them check it and write the actual time down. If you can come close without having any factual reference for that day, I would be most impressed. If not, it’s probably because you update the current time every couple of hours whether you know it or not.
If you are watching TV you are getting plenty of prompts about the time, ad breaks and the like and you know when the show started. If you are sitting around talking or reading that would be a different story.
I remember when I was in high school one of my maths teachers was doing a post grad degree and used his classes for experiments in time awareness. He would give us a period of time, say 1 minute or 14 minutes and we would hold up a hand when we thought that time had passed while carrying on with class. He recorded results and analysed them. His results showed that people underestimated and overestimated by huge amounts generally and only a small percentage could judge accurately the passage of time.
This doesn’t seem like a very good experiment, what with the peer-pressure and all. It seems like the result would be skewed due to the tendancy for some people to raise their hands just because others have.
I had this same ability for many years and almost always knew the time to within a minute or two. It’s diminished in the last 10 years or so (I’m now 53), although in recent years I’ve taken to waking up 1 minute before the alarm clock goes off.
No. There is no name for that.
I can tell myself what time to wake up in the morning and come within 10 minutes or so. (If I am not to tired and can get a decent amount of sleep)
Well, Colonel Mackenzie on JAG can do it too, so you’re not alone. But I believe there is no name for it.
All right… someone has to ask… might as well be me…
Are you Vulcan?
Well, I can usually do this within fifteen minutes or so. But it seems like I always have some reference. I’m outside or near a window (the sun and stuff) or just woke up or recently saw a clock or something. It would be interesting to see how a person would do if they were locked up in a clockless, windowless room without any good external way to gauge the passage of time for a significant period.
Also, why would the OP be a Vulcan? Couldn’t he or she just as easily be a Romulan?
I knew a guy who could do this too, a professor. When I asked about it, he said it came to him naturally, but always positioned it as a learnable skill, not a “gift” – he said it was a matter of focus and cues only. He said there was always a little part of his brain playing “timekeeper.”
I once went on a retreat with him where there was little in the way of cues except the sun in the sky and the pace of the group’s conversation. His accuracy diminished to more like +/- 20 minutes from his usual +/- 2-3 minutes.
I also used to be able to do that, not so much now, but if I was lying in bed not looking at a clock for an hour or so I could tell the time within a couple min or so.
Dig this.
Oops, sorry.
For those with dialup, the above is a music link.
I have a similar experience, to the point that I can wake up in the middle of the night and guess the time within about 10 minutes without looking at a clock. I’ve done it dozens of times. Not always, but I’d say a good 8 out of 10 times.