**Nothing out of this world, but still a good read on our conception of time… The article talks about how we can see time slowing down in certain situations. Here are some clips from that article.. **
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4741340.stm
We can’t touch time, or smell it. Yet it is utterly inescapable. But, research shows, time is - at least partly - something we control in our heads.
.
.
Does time fly?
While the body clock keeps the rest of us “in synch” with the world around us, that’s not our only experience of time. We also have a completely separate sense of time passing.
Mostly, we’re pretty good at estimating durations of time - how long you’ve been online, for example. But people also speak of “time flying” when they’re enjoying themselves, or slowing right down in perilous situations such as car crash.
Mr. Eagle’s experiment
Mr Eagleman came up with a cunning device: the “perceptual chronometer”, a wristwatch-like device which flicked blindingly fast between two LED screens.
Normally the flicker would be so fast Jesse could only see a blur. But if time slowed down for him, he might be able to discern the two different screens and read a random number on one of them. “There’s no way to fake this test,” says Dr Eagleman, “because if time is not running more slowly, they can’t see the sequence.”
Conclustion of experiment
So while time on the clock may be constant, the time in one’s brain is elastic and personal - something to remember in a boring meeting when time seems to grind to a halt. Time is not simply a fourth dimension in which we exist. It’s something we, at least partly, create in our minds.
User comments
I’ve often thought that this is true. For example, when I’m at work no matter what I’m doing I know exactly when it’s lunchtime and exactly when it’s 5 o’clock and time to go home. However, when I’m in my local pub, the Griffin, I can never remember the how long I’ve there or when I have to go home. I can now blame my SCN for these aberrations.
Marcus Muktasingh, Forest Hill London