The Power of Time Perception

by Jean Paul Zogby

  And when your time is up, and you look back at the life you have lived, instead of feeling that you were 20 years old just yesterday, and wondering how the decades have passed in the blink of an eye, you can instead run your film of endless precious memories in your mind, from your sensational adventures, to the exciting places you visited, to the interesting people you met, and all that knowledge you acquired along the way. At that moment, instead of seeing your life flash before your eyes, you will be satisfied to watch it serenely unfold and take pleasure in the gratifying feeling of having been able to fit several lifetimes into a single one.

  THE END

  Enjoyed the Book? You can make a big difference.

  Thank you for reading The Power of Time Perception, the product of countless nights and many years of research. I hope you found it beneficial.

  If you enjoyed the book and have a minute to spare, I would very grateful if you could post a review (as short as you like) on my book’s Amazon page.

  You can jump right to the page by clicking on the link below

  Click Here to Post a Review on Amazon

  Honest reviews from readers like you make a massive difference in spreading the message and helping new readers appreciate how precious our time is and ways to make the most of it.

  You can also check out my second book “The Time Miracle” for a more practical guide on slowing down, rethinking time, and designing a meaningful life

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FMD2WCQ

  Thank you so much!

  Jean Paul

  Free Gifts

  Building a relationship with my readers is the best thing about writing. I occasionally send newsletters about the latest in brain research and new releases. By joining my mailing list, I will send you the following:

  Free Self-improvement Courses

  Free instant access to the Online Speed of Time Test to measure how fast time runs in your mind,

  Free copy of the Ultimate Guide to a Healthy Brain Diet

  Monthly newsletter on the latest brain research

  Special Offers & Updates on new book releases

  What’s Next?

  Read on for the compelling follow-up to The Power of Time Perception

  The Time Miracle

  By Jean Paul Zogby

  Did you know the odds were against you being born?

  Are you aware that you won the Grand Lottery of Life?

  The odds that you are alive right at this moment in time are one in a quadrillion.

  How are you going to spend your time “winnings”?

  The average person will spend 26 years sleeping, 10 years working behind a desk, 4 years driving, and 15 years watching TV! The list goes on!

  What’s left out of your “time” prize to enjoy life is just 7 short years!

  But what if you could change that?

  In The Time Miracle you will learn how to:

   Free up 50% of your time

   Reclaim your ‘time taxes’

   Design a more meaningful life

   And Make the most of that time to enjoy life

  Life is not about the number of days you live, but the number of days you remember.

  The Time Miracle will show you how to create more of it and spend your time better than ever before.

  Click Here to Order Your Copy Today

  Without Whom

  Jean Paul knows he wouldn’t get a fraction of the things he wants to do if it wasn’t for his awesome family and friends. A special thanks to Roula, Stephanie, Chloe, Anthony, the best family ever, for their endless love, support, and patience.

  I would also like to thank all the friends who shared their own experiences of time distortions. Some were related to how time speeds up with age, others were about how time stretches on vacations or in car crashes, and a few who even shared their experience with marijuana and its effect on time!

  I owe a great deal of gratitude to my Editors, Katy Hamilton and Sarah Busby, for their valuable critique and role in shaping the final book. “Kate your sharp eye to detail was instrumental” and “Sarah, I admire the way you challenge my logic. Your feedback was invaluable”.

  I also thank Dalchand Sharma for designing a stunning and awesome book cover. Thank you for bearing with me in all those endless changes I kept requesting.

  Without the psychologists, neuroscientists, and various academics who spent years performing studies and conducting experiments, this book would not have been possible. I would like to thank the following people whose research has shaped my ideas and understanding of time perception: Paul Fraisse, Ernst Poppel, John M. Stroud, Marc Wittmann, John Wearden, David Eagleman, Lera Boroditsky, William Friendman, Philip Zombardo, Sylvie Droit-Volet, Virginei van Wassenhove, Rufin VanRullen, Mihály Csikszentmihalyi, Dan Zakay, Robert Ornstein, and Paul Mangan.

  Index

  A

  ADHD, 44, 142, 143, 144, 146

  aging, 205

  Alertness, 69, 85, 86, 87, 91, 93, 96, 119, 129

  Alzheimer, 173

  anger, 25, 101, 102, 104, 107, 108, 112, 116

  Anticipation, 174, 206, 207

  anxiety, 101, 102, 104, 106, 109, 110, 111, 112, 116, 131, 132, 202

  Attention to time, 67, 75, 166, 177

  awe, 102

  Awe, 114, 210

  B

  boredom, 77, 124, 125, 126, 127, 133, 174

  Brain waves, 45, 46, 47, 59, 60, 61, 65, 69, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 143, 145

  C

  Culture, 20

  D

  death, 20, 23, 34, 45, 93, 94, 96, 106, 210

  depressants, 137, 138, 140

  depression, 44, 109, 179, 180

  discrete perception, 50, 59, 60

  Distraction, 74, 76

  dopamine, 44, 91, 96, 126, 137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 190

  Drugs, 69, 135, 137, 140

  E

  emotions, 30, 44, 66, 99, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 112, 116, 121, 126, 132, 146, 156, 163, 176, 178, 199, 202, 206

  Experienced duration, 67, 83, 91, 146, 156, 157, 162, 165, 167

  extroverts, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 128, 131, 145, 201

  F

  fear, 25, 93, 94, 95, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 115, 121, 176

  FFF, 55, 56, 118, 138, 140, 141, 144

  Fight or Flight, 95

  flickering lights, 55, 87, 118, 119, 122, 144, 190

  Flow, state of, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 162, 200

  I

  impatient, 19, 25, 30, 115, 125, 126, 130, 143

  impulsive, 25, 30, 46, 119, 126, 130, 131, 133, 143, 145

  Internal Clock Model, 66

  introverts, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 131, 201

  L

  level of alertness, 66, 86, 94, 95, 96, 105, 115, 146, 167

  living in the moment, 75, 198, 205

  love, 102, 188, 203, 204, 206, 214

  M

  meditation, 59, 75, 201

  mental disorders, 44, 120, 143, 145

  mental snapshots, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 65, 93, 96, 98, 122, 139, 152, 159, 160, 164, 200, 202, 205

  mindfulness, 75, 201, 202

  Morning Lark, 128

  music, 19, 33, 75, 76, 78, 91, 92, 99, 110, 111, 121, 136, 137, 139, 141, 157, 168, 210, 227

  N

  Neurotransmitters, 44, 45, 47, 65, 91, 96, 98, 137, 138, 140, 143, 146, 190

  Night Owl, 128

  novelty, 81, 121, 124, 126, 128, 160, 161, 162, 164, 167, 168, 187, 188, 203

  Novelty, 160, 162

  O

  Oddball, 89, 90

  P

  Pace of Life, 23

  Parkinson’s disease, 44, 139, 143, 144, 145

  personality traits, 66, 119, 133, 145, 146, 156

  Planning Fallacy, 181

  Positive anticipation, 175, 177

  Prospective, 37, 74, 123, 125, 133, 146, 156, 165

  R

  Retrospective, 37, 123, 133, 156, 165, 168

&
nbsp; routine, 14, 78, 81, 120, 126, 129, 130, 133, 158, 160, 161, 162, 167, 168, 188, 191, 192, 202, 203

  S

  sadness, 101, 102, 104, 109, 110, 112, 116

  short-term memory, 32, 119, 142, 205

  slow motion, 51, 55, 85, 87, 93, 94, 96, 99, 104, 139

  smart drugs, 138, 141, 142

  stimulants, 51, 87, 137, 138, 140, 141, 144, 198

  T

  Time Distortions, 63, 164, 174

  Time Estimation, 37

  time pressure, 23, 114, 115, 187, 190, 192

  time-in-passing, 37, 125, 146

  V

  Value of Time, 18

  W

  Wagon Wheel, 59

  Wasted Time, 19

  References

  1.Dawkins, R. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. (Free Press, 2010).

  2.Kahneman, D. & Deaton, A. High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 107, 16489–93 (2010).

  3.Levine, R. V., Lynch, K., Miyake, K. & Lucia, M. The Type A city: Coronary heart disease and the pace of life. J. Behav. Med. 12, 509–524 (1989).

  4.Levine, R. V. & Norenzayan, A. The Pace of Life in 31 Countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 30, 178–205 (1999).

  5.Wittmann, M. Moments in time. Front. Integr. Neurosci. 5, 66 (2011).

  6.Lloyd, D. Neural correlates of temporality: default mode variability and temporal awareness. Conscious. Cogn. 21, 695–703 (2012).

  7.Pöppel, E. Pre-semantically defined temporal windows for cognitive processing. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 364, 1887–96 (2009).

  8.Fraisse, P. Perception and estimation of time. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 35, 1–36 (1984).

  9.Pöppel, E. Lost in time: A historical frame, elementary processing units and the 3-second window. in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis 64, 295–301 (2004).

  10.Nagy, E. Sharing the moment: the duration of embraces in humans. J. Ethol. 29, 389–393 (2011).

  11.Saj, a., Fuhrman, O., Vuilleumier, P. & Boroditsky, L. Patients With Left Spatial Neglect Also Neglect the ‘Left Side’ of Time. Psychol. Sci. 25, 207–214 (2013).

  12.Boroditsky, L. Does language shape thought? Mandarin and English speakers’ conceptions of time. Cogn. Psychol. 43, 1–22 (2001).

  13.Stetson, C., Cui, X., Montague, P. R. & Eagleman, D. M. Motor-Sensory Recalibration Leads to an Illusory Reversal of Action and Sensation. Neuron 51, 651–659 (2006).

  14.Surwillo, W. W. The relation of decision time to brain wave frequency and to age. Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 16, 510–514 (1964).

  15.Callaway, E. & Yeager, C. L. Relationship between reaction time and electroencephalographic alpha phase. Science 132, 1765–6 (1960).

  16.Hume, D. The Philosophical Works of David Hume, vol. 1 (Treatise of Human Nature Part 1) - Online Library of Liberty. (1828). at

  17.VanRullen, R. & Koch, C. Is perception discrete or continuous? Trends Cogn. Sci. 7, 207–213 (2003).

  18.Von Baer, K. E. Welche Auffasung der lebendigen Natur ist die richtige? Aus Balt. Geiste- sarbeit. Reden und Aufsätze 1, (1908).

  19.Hylan, J. P. The distribution of attention - I. Philos. Rev. 13, (1904).

  20.Stroud, J. M. The fine structure of psychological time. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 138, 623–631 (1967).

  21.Johansson, A. & Sandström, M. Sensitivity of the human visual system to amplitude modulated light. (Arbetslivsinstitutet, 2003).

  22.Healy, K., McNally, L., Ruxton, G. D., Cooper, N. & Jackson, A. L. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Anim. Behav. 86, 685–696 (2013).

  23.Busch, N. A., Dubois, J. & VanRullen, R. The phase of ongoing EEG oscillations predicts visual perception. J. Neurosci. 29, 7869–76 (2009).

  24.Mathewson, K. E., Gratton, G., Fabiani, M., Beck, D. M. & Ro, T. To see or not to see: prestimulus alpha phase predicts visual awareness. J. Neurosci. 29, 2725–32 (2009).

  25.Shevelev, I. A. et al. Visual illusions and travelling alpha waves produced by flicker at alpha frequency. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 39, 9–20 (2000).

  26.Purves, D., Paydarfar, J. a & Andrews, T. J. The wagon wheel illusion in movies and reality. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 93, 3693–3697 (1996).

  27.Kline, K., Holcombe, A. O. & Eagleman, D. M. Illusory motion reversal is caused by rivalry, not by perceptual snapshots of the visual field. Vision Res. 44, 2653–2658 (2004).

  28.VanRullen, R., Reddy, L. & Koch, C. The continuous wagon wheel illusion is associated with changes in electroencephalogram power at approximately 13 Hz. J. Neurosci. 26, 502–7 (2006).

  29.Simpson, W. A., Shahani, U. & Manahilov, V. Illusory percepts of moving patterns due to discrete temporal sampling. Neurosci. Lett. 375, 23–7 (2005).

  30.VanRullen, R., Reddy, L. & Koch, C. Attention-driven discrete sampling of motion perception. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 102, 5291–5296 (2005).

  31.Buschman, T. J. & Miller, E. K. Shifting the spotlight of attention: evidence for discrete computations in cognition. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 4, 194 (2010).

  32.Chakravarthi, R. & VanRullen, R. Conscious updating is a rhythmic process. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 109, 10599–10604 (2012).

  33.VanRullen, R., Carlson, T. & Cavanagh, P. The blinking spotlight of attention. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 104, 19204–9 (2007).

  34.Wearden, J. H. & Penton-Voak, I. S. Feeling the heat: body temperature and the rate of subjective time, revisited. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. B. 48, 129–141 (1995).

  35.College, A., Cahoon, D. & Edmonds, E. M. The watched pot still won’t boil: Expectancy as a variable in estimating the passage of time. 16, 115–116 (1980).

  36.Ozawa, R., Fujii, K. & Kouzaki, M. The return trip is felt shorter only postdictively: A psychophysiological study of the return trip effect [corrected]. PLoS One 10, e0127779 (2015).

  37.Kramer, R. S. S., Weger, U. W. & Sharma, D. The effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception. Conscious. Cogn. 22, 846–852 (2013).

  38.Kramer, R. S. S., Weger, U. W. & Sharma, D. The effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception. Conscious. Cogn. 22, 846–52 (2013).

  39.Diaz, F. M. Mindfulness, attention, and flow during music listening: An empirical investigation. Psychol. Music 41, 42–58 (2011).

  40.Gerald Donaldson: Ayrton Senna at Monaco (1988). at

  41.Gable, P. a & Poole, B. D. Time flies when you’re having approach-motivated fun: effects of motivational intensity on time perception. Psychol. Sci. 23, 879–86 (2012).

  42.Csikszentmihalyi, M. Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. (BasicBooks, 1997). at

  43.Del Percio, C. et al. ‘Neural efficiency’ of athletes’ brain for upright standing: a high-resolution EEG study. Brain Res. Bull. 79, 193–200 (2009).

  44.Minkwitz, J. et al. Time perception at different EEG-vigilance levels. Behav. Brain Funct. 8, 50 (2012).

  45.Cahoon, R. L. Physiological arousal and time estimation. Percept. Mot. Skills 28, 259–68 (1969).

  46.Bowers, K. S. & Brenneman, H. A. Hypnosis and the perception of time. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 27, 29–41 (1979).

  47.Tse, P. U., Intriligator, J., Rivest, J. & Cavanagh, P. Attention and the subjective expansion of time. Percept. Psychophys. 66, 1171–1189 (2004).

  48.Frederickx, S. et al. The Relationship Between Arousal and the Remembered Duration of Positive Events. Appl. Cogn. Psychol. 27, 493–496 (2013).

  49.Weber, E., Patry J.L., Spychiger, M. Musik macht Schule. Die blaue Eule (1993).

  50.Sutoo, D. & Akiyama, K. Music improves dopaminergic neurotransmission: demonstration based on the effect of music on blood pressure regulation. Brain Res. 1016, 255–62 (2004).

  51.Sridharan, D., Levitin, D. J., Chafe, C. H., Berger, J. & Menon, V. Neural dynamics of event segmentation in music: converging eviden
ce for dissociable ventral and dorsal networks. Neuron 55, 521–32 (2007).

  52.Penton-Voak, I. S., Edwards, H., Percival, A. & Wearden, J. H. Speeding up an internal clock in humans? Effects of click trains on subjective duration. J. Exp. Psychol. Anim. Behav. Process. 22, 307–320 (1996).

  53.Kellaris, J. J. & Kent, R. J. The influence of music on consumers’ temporal perceptions: Does time fly when you’re having fun? J. Consum. Psychol. 1, 365–376 (1992).

  54.Kellaris, J. J. & Altsech, M. B. The Experience of Time As a Function of Musical Loudness and Gender of Listener. Adv. Consum. Res. 19, 725–729 (1992).

  55.Arstila, V. Time slows down during accidents. Front. Psychol. 3, (2012).

  56.Noyes, R. & Kletti, R. Depersonalization in the face of life-threatening danger: a description. Psychiatry 39, 19–27 (1976).

  57.Campbell, L. A. & Bryant, R. A. How time flies: A study of novice skydivers. Behav. Res. Ther. 45, 1389–1392 (2007).

  58.Stetson, C., Fiesta, M. P. & Eagleman, D. M. Does time really slow down during a frightening event? PLoS One 2, (2007).

  59.Drummond, S. P. & Brown, G. G. The effects of total sleep deprivation on cerebral responses to cognitive performance. Neuropsychopharmacology 25, S68-73 (2001).

  60.Dhand, R. & Sohal, H. Good sleep, bad sleep! The role of daytime naps in healthy adults. Curr. Opin. Intern. Med. 6, 91–94 (2007).

  61.Rosekind, M. et al. Crew factors in flight operations IX: effects of planned cockpit rest on crew performance and alertness in long-haul operations. (1994). at

  62.Schwarz, M. a, Winkler, I. & Sedlmeier, P. The heart beat does not make us tick: the impacts of heart rate and arousal on time perception. Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 75, 182–193 (2013).

  63.Hirano, Y. et al. Effects of chewing on cognitive processing speed. Brain Cogn. 81, 376–381 (2013).

  64.Verduyn, P. & Lavrijsen, S. Which emotions last longest and why: The role of event importance and rumination. Motiv. Emot. (2014). doi:10.1007/s11031-014-9445-y

  65.Noulhiane, M., Mella, N., Samson, S., Ragot, R. & Pouthas, V. How emotional auditory stimuli modulate time perception. Emotion 7, 697–704 (2007).