Curvature in Time : Why Does Time Move Faster at Some Times Than Others

The old expression "A Watched Kettle Never Boils" really does ring true for some reason, but just why is this. There certainly doesn't seem to be any logic in it does there.

If you wait for something to happen, it seems to take forever, but as soon as you turn away, it just finishes.

I thought about this earlier today, when the first hour at work, while waiting for the breakfast break at 10am, just seemed to pass so slowly by. It was as if time stood still, and the clock only read 9:20am.

The next thing I knew, it was 5 past 10, and breakfast had arrived.

The experience of time passing quickly and time passing slowly seem to often be related to what we are doing of course. When we have little to do and want the hours to speed by, often we can sit and watch the clock, and the hands barely seem to move. At other times, when we are engrossed in something, the time just whizzes by, and we struggle to complete what we are doing before we run out of time.

I find that working on a computer very often causes time to fly, especially when I am trying to do something that is complicated, or having problems making something work.

I remember one evening about twenty years ago when I went upstairs to play one of the simulations games, Railroad Tycoon on our Atari 1040ST (those were the days). I started playing about 7pm, maybe even a little before that, and before long I realized that my head was pounding, my throat was parched, and my eyes were really sore. I went to get a drink, and on looking at the clock found that it was 3am! I had been sitting at the computer for 8 hours without a break, and yet it seemed like I had been there for less than an hour.

One of the hardest things that we can do is to try and guess how much time has passed, when we don't have a watch with us or a clock that we can look at.

Quite often if I am outside and have to guess what time it is, I can be within 15 minutes of the actual time, even if I haven't looked at the time for hours. I think that is quite cool, but my senses don't always work in my favor.

I know that if we go to the beach, and I put 2 hours on the parking meter, and I know that I have to keep an eye on the time so that we can either top up the meter or leave the beach, I often have no idea what the time is.

If I sit quietly and just watch the world go by, I can give it half an hour, get my cell phone out of the bag and look at the time, and it's only 10 minutes since I last looked at it.

The closer that it gets to the time when the meter is due to run out however, it seems that time speeds up, as if to play tricks on the mind, and to make us get a parking ticket when we have been very careful to avoid getting one.

If you discuss the matter of time flying or not at a given time, usually the person that you are talking to agrees with you, which is comforting, however should they disagree, what does it mean if time has flown by for you when it has been going slowly for them?

Presumably somewhere in the space between you both, time is in a situation of flux, operating at different speeds, but always evening out in the end.

We do have proof that speed affects time, with clocks that have been sent into space, orbited to earth, and returned, exhibiting differences to the clocks back on earth.

Maybe as individuals we are encompassed by some void in which our speed constantly varies, and therefore our perception of time also varies, but inevitably we return to "real" time whenever we look at a timepiece.

One question did arise in my head though just now. What happens to the clocks on board the International Space Station. Are these constantly being synchronized with those back on Earth, to make sure that the astronauts on board don't go ahead by a few seconds each day. It's an interesting point to ponder over.

Do you have any experiences where time has either flown or appeared to grind to a halt for you? If so, I would love to hear about them.