KARL JASPERS FORUM

TA79 (JS Johnson)

Commentary 42

"THE RATE OF FLOW OF SUBJECTIVE TIME"
by Adhanom Andemicael
12 September 2006, posted 16 September 2006

Question: Does the rate of flow of time vary?

I believe that time's rate of flow is constant.

Note however: "Memory" can mislead us into thinking that time varies in its flow-rate.

***

SCENARIO 1 (S1):

<1>
Let us consider two events, A and B. Event A occurs at the moment t1, and event B occurs 10 minutes later at the moment t2.(1)

<2>
Suppose an observer, Ann, observes these two events. Ann sees event A occur at t1. She sees event B occur at t2.

<3>
When Ann observes event B, she recalls event A. However, she does not have a wrist watch and does not know that A took place 10 minutes before B. She relies on her memory and makes a judgment about how long ago event A took place. Ann's memory is not reliable, however. At the moment t2, her memory misleads her into thinking that event A took place 20 minutes before event B.

<4>
A little while later, at a moment t3, Ann looks at a clock and discovers that event A took place 10 minutes before B (not 20 minutes before B, as she thought). At this moment, t3, Ann is convinced that time passed very slowly between events A and B. At t3, she claims that the 10-minute gap between A and B seemed like 20 minutes.

***

SCENARIO 2 (S2):

<5>
Let us consider a slightly different scenario, S2. This scenario is the same as the first scenario, S1, between the moments t1 and t2. However, at moment t2, S2 differs from S1.

<6>
At t2 in scenario S2, Ann's memory misleads her into thinking that event A took place 5 minutes before B.

<7>
At t3, in S2, Ann looks at a clock and discovers that event A took place 10 minutes before B (not 5 minutes before B). At this moment, t3, Ann is convinced that time passed very *quickly* between events A and B. At t3, she claims that the 10-minute gap between A and B seemed like 5 minutes.

<8>
In the first scenario described, Ann claims that the 10-minute period between events A and B seemed like 20 minutes. In the second scenario, she claims that the 10-minute period between A and B seemed like 5 minutes.

<9>
Note however: The only difference between the two scenarios is the content of Ann's *memory* at the moment t2. Ann's experience of temporal passage is actually the same in the two scenarios!

***

NOTATION:

<10>
In the example above, the Actual Time (AT) between events A and B is 10 minutes: AT = 10

<11>
In scenario 1, at the moment t2, Ann's memory misleads her into thinking that event A happened 20 minutes before event B.

<12>
Thus, the Time According to Memory (TAM) in this scenario is 20: TAM = 20

<13>
Note: In this scenario, the Time According to Memory is greater than the Actual Time: TAM > AT (i.e., 20 > 10)

<14>
In scenario 2, at the moment t2, Ann's memory misleads her into thinking that event A occurred 5 minutes before event B.

<15>
Thus, the Time According to Memory (TAM) in this scenario is 5: TAM = 5

<16>
Note: In this scenario, the Time According to Memory is less than the Actual Time: TAM < AT (i.e., 5 < 10)

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NOTES:

1. The argument presented above can be made for *any* two events, A and B, where B occurs after A. (In the example above, I arbitrarily choose two events, A and B, where AT = 10 minutes.)

Target Article 61

http://www.kjf.ca/61-TAAND.htm

http://www.KJF.ca

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Adhanom Andemicael