# passage of time

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passage-of-time/63642>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 28, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passage-of-time/63642 "2001-04-28T14:56:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ernie\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ernie\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ernie_Johnson)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passage-of-time/63642/1 "2001-04-28T14:56:16Z")

</div>

Why does time seem to pass faster the older you get?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passage-of-time/63642/2 "2001-04-28T15:29:25Z")

</div>

I’d always thought it was 'cause a given amount of time continually became a smaller and smaller fraction of your total lifetime. (I.e. for a 2-year-old, a year is half your life, but for a 50-year-old it’s only 2% of your life.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passage-of-time/63642/3 "2001-04-29T02:23:32Z")

</div>

“Don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by?  
You never get to stop and open your eyes.”

-Bruce Cockburn

Perhaps they do. But…

“Take death for example… We go to extraordinary lengths to delay it and often consider it’s intrusion a tragic event… Death gives meaning to time… time would lose all significance, if there were too much of it.”

-Ray Kurzweil and Our Lady Peace

Perhaps time seems to go by more quickly… but if we don’t make use of it, then what does it matter? And hey, Who Are You (or I) to wish we had more time? Do you (or I) deserve more time? Do you (or I) have the right to want more?

Maybe you (or I) should be using what little time you (or I) have left to figure out how we’re going to justify it all… and how we’re going to repay the universe and it’s inhabitants for all of the entropy you (or I) have caused.

[I’m really very sorry if any of the above seems angry or offensive. There’s no attack intended; hence all the (or I)'s. Just some thoughts]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passage-of-time/63642/4 "2001-04-29T06:29:53Z")

</div>

Bruce **Cockburn?!**

Damn, whatever that is, it sounds painful.