Going down memory lane

OUR mind has a big part to play in this delusion without getting too technical.
Among other things, our brain has the capacity to store memories. It’s similar to a supercomputer but more advanced.
Theoretically, it can store up to 2.5 petabytes of data though new studies suggest it’s ten times that.
When we were kids, everything we experience is new and so our brain stores all this information/memories right down to the last detail.
This is why kids are able to learn quickly; because they can easily remember.
As we grow up, we tend to have less and less new experiences and so, our brain starts to discard any information/memories it deems to be a repetition.
Let me give an example.
If you walk 20 minutes to school every day, your brain discards more than half of what you experienced during that walk, because the brain regards it as a repetition; you’ve done this already, you don’t need to remember it again.
You will remember things out of the ordinary like meeting a friend on the road or seeing a snake but the rest is gone.
So about 12 minutes of the 20 you walked is not stored as a memory. It’s like 12 minutes of that day disappeared.
Because your brain hasn’t stored it for you to remember.
This is also why new roads will seem long but once you’ve become familiar with it, it will seem short.
Now think of all the things you routinely do on a regular day.
Walk to and from school, drive to and from work, sitting in front of your computer, listening to your lecturer drone on, stare at your phone, etc.
These tasks are repetitions and so it’s not stored in your brain.
Those hours you spent doing these repetitive things just disappear.
So, when you try to rationalize how you spent your day, the only conclusion you can reach is that time must be going fast.
Because your brain can’t account for those lost hours.
The reason Mondays seem long is because for two days (Saturday and Sunday), you break your routine and do things a bit differently. When you get back to work on Monday, the hours will seem to drag by slowly, because you brain has yet to adjust to your routine.
From Tuesday to Friday, you fall back into your routine and so everything is a repetition, hours and hours of memory is not stored for you to remember.
This is why the week will seem to have flown by.
Another example is, the first time you go to prison, the first night will seem like the longest night of your life.
Because it is a new experience.
Your brain will store every hour before sleep catches you.
We’re all not the same, however.
Some people’s brains are better at distinguishing the finer details of an event than others and so they are able to retain more memories.
These are the kids who are able to remember most of what their teacher says in class and can regurgitate it whenever required which makes them seem smarter.
Others are “slow learners” so they go back home and revise their notes to catch up.
To sum things up, what I am saying is as you grow old, time will seem to go fast. It’s merely a symptom of you aging.
Your brain will only store and remember new experiences.
Doing things, you’ve already done, the brain won’t store any of that. So once you’ve reached adulthood, you’ve basically done everything a human being can do and your life has been confined to a routine so there’s nothing new to experience.
Don’t just believe in what everyone says. Try a bit of critical thinking and figure out stuff for yourself.

Phil Kaizerman
POM