slowing and speeding time

yeah, we'v all been there, sitting looking at the clock waiting to get out of school or work but the clock just wont move! it seems so slow, but then when you are doing somthing you like to do, time just wont wait for you...

so, my question is, would it be possible to somehow "train" the brain to speed and slow "time"? not like ooh I control time, but just make it go faster or slower to 'you' whenever you wanted it too?

personally I think through meditation this may be possible but id like to see your outlooks.

I was going to say i think meditation is a good start to slow down time, to un-viel the illusion of time. Im not sure about making time go faster.

Time is subjective, 30 min to me might be 2 hours for you -It depends on your awareness.

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A nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. [/b]

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yes, but the question is, how do you become more aware?


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50th post, WOOT!!!

This has infact happened to me before. I was in my history class and I was extremely bored out of my mind as my teacher rambled on and on about the neolithic revolution. as i sat there I kind of fell into this trance. When I came back i looked up the clock and ten minutes had gone by. so i thought i would try it consciously. It was kinda hard not to concentrate on it but soon enough i cleared my mind and sat for what i thought was about five or so minutes (Im not sure because the whole point was to forget the concept of time) but i looked up and about 8 minutes had passed. this really intrigued me so when i got home that night i decided to meditate. i decided i would meditate for ten minutes. so i sat crosslegged on my bed, closed my eyes and shut out all thoughts that were entering my mind. after a while of sitting the thoughts started coming in more and more and finally i couldn't sit there anymore. im not that good at meditating anyway. so i decided to give it up and try i another time when i was in the right mood. But when i opened up my eyes 45 MINUTES HAD PASSED! it honestly only felt like 8 minutes!

Time doesn't move in at a constant pace. The rate of time can change depending on things like relative speed to a reference point, or gravity. There's also other things that can change time rate.

Is anyone familiar with the twin paradox? It's classic and worth being familar with.

There is also a good illustration of time's change w/ respect to gravity in the book "The Elegant Universe" by Brian Greene. Time would be slowed down a lot next to a black hole, for example.

It seems like there's a connection with becoming more aware and being able to "feel" these differences in the rate of time.

I can recall time feeling like it slowed down once when I hit a 3 point shot w/ regulation play about to end. I've also heard one race car driver claim to feel like time slowed down during a horrible wreck that they had.

But is the time rate actually changing, or is our awareness simply heightened during these time-change moments?

Cool topic.

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But is the time rate actually changing, or is our awareness simply heightened during these time-change moments?[/b]

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Interesting question LucidT

I always say time is relative to your perception.

its like when you dream an hour can seem like 15 min and 15 min can seem like an hour.

Mystical_Journey wrote

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its like when you dream an hour can seem like 15 min and 15 min can seem like an hour.[/b]

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Yeah, I can totally relate.

This really isn't that related, but personally, when I have a deja vu in real life, it usually occurs in the form of a dream that lasts only for that short deja vu moment. I definitely feel a change in time rate w/ these type of dreams.

For example, there was this one time when I had a deja vu last around 30 seconds. I recalled the dream that induced the real life deja vu. I slept for 6 hours or so, but it was one of those times when I set my head down for what felt like only a few seconds and woke up to see on the clock that hours had passed.

Just a note about awareness; I've found that for me, doing more reality checks during the day leads to more recall w/ dreams. I'm willing to bet that reality checks are one way to "exercise" your self to become more aware....moreaware in whatever area you're natrually gifted in.

It seems like awareness is very complex...it depends on which area you're hyper-aware in which affects a number of possible areas in your lucid/waking life. I've always had a knack for deja vu's and that's one area for me that naturally strengthened itself when I became more "lucidly" aware.

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Originally posted by LucidT
Time doesn't move in at a constant pace. The rate of time can change depending on things like relative speed to a reference point, or gravity. There's also other things that can change time rate.

Is anyone familiar with the twin paradox? It's classic and worth being familar with.

There is also a good illustration of time's change w/ respect to gravity in the book \"The Elegant Universe\" by Brian Greene. Time would be slowed down a lot next to a black hole, for example.

It seems like there's a connection with becoming more aware and being able to \"feel\" these differences in the rate of time.

I can recall time feeling like it slowed down once when I hit a 3 point shot w/ regulation play about to end. I've also heard one race car driver claim to feel like time slowed down during a horrible wreck that they had.

But is the time rate actually changing, or is our awareness simply heightened during these time-change moments?

Cool topic.

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Like I said, not actually change time, but change your awareness so you perceive time at a different speed than others, just like mystical journey said... except use a meditation method or something like that to change your perception...

I think I’m going to do some experiments and try different methods for slowing and speeding my perception of time, I have meditated and noticed that time had seemed to go by faster, so I’m going to see if its possible to do with your eyes open and with noise so essentially making a conscious decision to "zone out"

(i'll post any progress)

I read a book by a guy named David Icke about consciousness, and it being the only Real Truth. And while I agree/disagree with a bunch of his points, his explaination of the illusion of time I can relate to.
The very best thing you can do to speed time, is to become unconscious of it. You have to train your mind to something Other than time. When you're in school, or at work, and waiting for time to go by (especially within the last hour that you're being detained) time seems to crawl to near a dead stop. The reason behind this, in my opinion, is that when you're mentally BEGGING time to hurry, you're spending much more of your awareness on Time itself. For that reason, by the time the concept of Time passes through your mind 4 or five times, you check the clock again, and only 2 minutes have passed. However, if you were to say to yourself: "Ok, I only have an hour left. All I have to do is keep myself consciously occupied for an hour." and are able to find something that holds your complete attention (awareness) for that time, by the time the concept of time goes through your head once or twice, your hour is already up.
With this knowledge, I've tried a few abstract experiments with time while at work. While thumbing through files (I work at an insurance agency) I'd look at the stack I have and at first say to myself 'there is no way I can get through this stack in an hour." Then I'll stop and say "wait a minute, if time doesn't exist, and its all a measure of awareness to time, I would have no problem doing this. So I would completely set the idea of 'watching the clock' out of my mind, but maintain awareness that I'd have to be done with what I"m doing by (whatever the top of the hour was.) 3 times in a row I've done this little experiment, and to my surprise, I've finished the stack of papers within 2 minutes of the top of the hour.
The trick to time is awareness. Like LL Cool J said in Deep Blue Sea, "You put your hands on a hot pan, a second can seem like an hour. Get your hands on a hot woman, an hour can seem like a second. Its all relative." This is So true. In one senario, you're completely attuned to "HOLY HELL HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO BURN??!" And every Second of heat is burned into your conscious. In the other, you're completely infatuated with the woman you are with, so much so that the concept of time is the furthest thing on your mind. So by the time you look at the clock (if at all) hours could have gone by without your noticing.
....the same is true with sex, now that I think about it. :D

yeah what you just explained is what I was planning on doing :P I was going to see how the easiest way to get your mind off of time is, and then the easiest way to put your mind on time, (thinking about it should make it seem slower)

although, I have had times where I looked at the clock and it said say, 1:30 pm, but I paid no attention to the clock whatsoever or to time, I had no reason to I was watching a TV show that I didn’t like or dislike, but later I just randomly glanced up at the clock, it said it was only about 5 mins later (1:35pm) but when I thought about it, it had seemed like an hour had gone by.... even though I had no reason to be thinking about time or anything it had crept by at an amazingly slow pace. this is what I mean by making time slow... not actually having to think about it at all except maybe one time and it just crawl by like a snail for the rest of the day (it did continue to crawl by for the whole day that day) maybe this has something to do with the subconcious clock in all of us, and not the concious awareness of time itself

ok i took awhile and tested out the previous mentioned methods, this is what i got:

1: speeding time.
.............obviously it would take some knowledge in meditation and such to come up with a real "meathod" for slowing/ speeding time (making adrenalin pump etc) but i have found a way to put yourself in a mindset to make time seem slightly faster, this is to use in situations like the classroom and work (repetative things) it was also mentioned by Oneironaut and seems to work well.... what you have to do is when you look at the clock and say it says 2:48 PM,
you would then say to yourself "its about 2:40 now" and try and think nothing more of it, then when you feel like looking at the time dont, try to just think about the task at hand, or if your in class then just find something to read and get your mind off time, then later when you look at the clock youl remember seeing 2:40 last time thus adding 8 minutes to the time that you saw last time, and this automatically makes the time go by faster, also another meathod for doing this is when you look at the time just round it down instead of up, giving yourself a good 2-4 mins, also dont even think about it, just get into the habiit of rounding it down. also when you look at the time after you rounded it down the first time dont round it until the next time you look.

slowing time:
.............this one doesnt work nearly as well since your probably wanting to focus on something with time "slowed" but what you do is focus on the clock, and round the numbers up instead of down every time you look, this will create the illusion that youve been stolen from you... i dont see why anyone would want this to happen but thats the only way i can see how,

actually making time go by really really fast:
...........ever been at home or on a long long bus ride that you just wanted to be done with? well your going to need earplugs and possible a sleepmask... get confortable and make sure you have no pressure points, (the back is the best position for this) now that you can see no light and hear no noise you need to close your eyes, start at ten and slowly count down from 20, (say breathe in, breathe out, 20, and then the same thing again until your at 0, also every time you say breathe out relax as much more as is possible) after you get done counting down from 20 start counting up, until you reach 100, when thats done just start saying to yourself breathe in, breathe out, over and over again until an alarm that you set takes you out of the trancelike state. also its important to remember that you should only be thinking about counting and breathing, and if at the encd when your only thinking about breathing if your thoughts stray you should start counting to 50 again trying to focus only on it.

(sorry for all the spelling errors but i dont have spellcheck atm, ill check it soon)

if my attention is focused intently on a reference point in time and i wish for it to change, i would imagine the first thing needed to accomplish this would be some level of control over the temperature surrounding it. i don't place much stock in meditation, but i'm convinced if absolute zero is ever achieved the next logical step would be a literal manipulation of time

A clock going seemingly fast is just an illusion. We obviously can't feel an intangible concept such as time, so we rely on clocks and reference the pace of events. As some might notice, being busy while collecting a lot of information in the process might distract them from keeping pace with the events that are ongoing, and thus create a void of what happened. If there was a "void" in our recent pace of events, and time has past significantly on a clock, it would seem as if we had recently checked the time.

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Originally Posted by malac

We obviously can't feel an intangible concept such as time

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i did - do - will mourn the passing of my grandfather

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

i did - do - will mourn the passing of my grandfather

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:facepalm:

Yep, you can learn to distort your perception of time. It happens ALL the time. Like, you know when you're driving on the freeway for a while, and then you slow down for the off-ramp, and it feels like you're driving at friggin 2mph? It's the same time distortion effect.

I read somewhere that the way to slow things down is to imagine everything in your peripheral vision going really really fast, and everything in the center of your focus going slowly, and you'll create a similar state as to when you're used to driving fast. Pro athletes (boxers, etc.) have been shown to be in that state when they perform at their best.

It's all perception. I find the best way to 'speed' time is to pre-occupy the mind. While 'slowing' time requires intense focus. I've had times where I can go through a few hours in what feels like minutes, or go through a few minutes in what feels like hours. I'm sure with practice you could easily control how you percieve time... it's all the mind.

What a necropost

You mean your perception of time? Thats very different. Only huge speeds and huge gravitational fields can change the speed of time.

i don't know how many times i need to say it, but if you can control temperature then you will control time

Say it as much as you like; if you don't explain it, nobody cares.

i'll have to wait until i can post a image. i'm not that good with words, but i'm alright with ink

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

i don't know how many times i need to say it, but if you can control temperature then you will control time

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That doesn't follow.

Temperature does not alter time, only velocity and gravity.

really, so what happens to time if there's no temperture at all. think about this before you chalk it up as rediculous

'No temperature at all'; what does this even mean? Can you actually explain what temperature is?

How's that drawing coming along?

Time goes the same rate at absolute zero as it does at a billion K. Temperature does not matter, only gravity and speed, how many times do I have to say that? Where are you getting your information about temperature and time dilation?

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Originally Posted by Xei

'No temperature at all'; what does this even mean? Can you actually explain what temperature is?

How's that drawing coming along?

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no temperature at all is absolute zero
no, i can't explain what temperature is, but i can explain what it does. [i think] the only reason we can see an object is because it has a signature vibration. i assume if you were able to slow an objects molecules down enough it would simply *poof out of perseption, but that doesn't mean it has mysteriously vanished. you know what, i can't explain it but i'm pretty sure someone smarter that i am will get the jist of what's been said and gently slap you across the face with it

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Originally Posted by ninja9578

Time goes the same rate at absolute zero as it does at a billion K. Temperature does not matter, only gravity and speed, how many times do I have to say that? Where are you getting your information about temperature and time dilation?

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from my head. where are you getting yours, a book

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

no temperature at all is absolute zero
no, i can't explain what temperature is, but i can explain what it does. [i think] the only reason we can see an object is because it has a signature vibration. i assume if you were able to slow an objects molecules down enough it would simply *poof out of perseption, but that doesn't mean it has mysteriously vanished. you know what, i can't explain it but i'm pretty sure someone smarter that i am will get the jist of what's been said and gently slap you across the face with it

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I think it's a bit optimistic to think you're going to slap me across the face when you can't even define what you're talking about. Seriously, just ruminate on that for a second. You're talking with confidence bordering on hubris about something you have no conception of.

I'm amazed you don't know this but we see stuff because light reflects off it (or the object itself generates light).

I don't mean to speak for ninja but he'd probably tell you that he's getting his information from scientific experiment rather than guessing. You can't cool anything to absolute zero, and cooling things down does not make them disappear.

if nothing is there for light to reflect off ...see where i'm going with that -
i told you i wasn't smart enough to explain it, i also told you someone else would understand what i was getting at, i just didn't know it would be you. i think you're wrong about not reaching that zero though, just my opinion

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

if nothing is there for light to reflect off ...see where i'm going with that -
i told you i wasn't smart enough to explain it, i also told you someone else would understand what i was getting at, i just didn't know it would be you. i think you're wrong about not reaching that zero though, just my opinion

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It's not a matter of opinion, we're talking about science here. You can put forth a hypothesis that you believe that objects can reach absolute zero, but you would have to have some kind of reasoning behind it and be able to demonstrate it through experiments. So far all experiments/theories point that objects can't be cooled to absolute zero. Even a single hydrogen atom floating in the vast darkness of space between galaxies will not reach absolute zero.

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Originally Posted by Spartiate

So far all experiments/theories point that objects can't be cooled to absolute zero. Even a single hydrogen atom floating in the vast darkness of space between galaxies will not reach absolute zero.

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rather than suggest it's impossible, how about you help me figure out a way to make it so

I don't think it's possible, and neither do scientists that are far more knowledgeable than me. I'd rather invest my energy elsewhere.

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

from my head. where are you getting yours, a book

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From 6 years of advanced physics, including relativity. The only way to change the speed of time is massive gravitational fields or speeds near the speed of light. This is the equation for the speed of time, care to point out temperature?

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dt[E]^2 = ( 1 - 2GM[i]/r[i]c^2 )dt[c]^2 - ( dx^2 + dy^2 + dz^2 )/c^2

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And no, it's not physically possible to be at absolute zero. Quantum physics' Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle does not allow it. I'm not suggesting it's impossible, I'm positive that it isn't possible, and mathematics confirm that.

Every quantum state has the property that the root mean square deviation of the position from its mean: sqrt((x - <x>)^2)

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Originally Posted by greenhavoc

no temperature at all is absolute zero
no, i can't explain what temperature is, but i can explain what it does. [i think] the only reason we can see an object is because it has a signature vibration. i assume if you were able to slow an objects molecules down enough it would simply *poof out of perseption, but that doesn't mean it has mysteriously vanished. you know what, i can't explain it but i'm pretty sure someone smarter that i am will get the jist of what's been said and gently slap you across the face with it

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This is incorrect. Light is external. What happens is that a photon (light "particle") hits an atom. It get absorbed by the atom and adds energy to it, then it vanishes and become part of the atom. An electron jumps a quantum level, but it is in an unstable state at that elevated quantum level, so shortly after, the electron falls back to a lower orbit and releases that energy, the exact amount that the original photon had (conservation of energy,) which we perceive as reflected light. The reason really hot thing glow is because the heat that is being imparted to an object can also cause electrons to jump levels, and fall back down, converting that heat into light. Understand?

Light is a very complex phenomenon and it requires advanced understanding of quantum physics to know why things work the way they do. It's behavior is complex, counter intuitive, and weird. Did you know that a photon actually has no concept of time? It can travel a quadrillion miles instantaneously in terms of it's own existence. It acts as a wave and a particle and switches between the states. It can even be in two places at the same time. It has momentum, but no mass yet feels the effects of gravity. It can both push and pull matter depending on the state of the matter. Its path is predictable in large scale, but random at the atomic level. Even though photons themselves are tinier than quarks, they sometimes can't even fit through a holla-hoop. The only reason I understand why light has all of these properties is because I understand both relativity and quantum physics.

It's oddest properties deal with speed, it is always observed at the speed of light. Of you a riding it the back of a truck traveling 50km/h and you throw a ball at 40km/h. On the truck, you perceive the ball moving at 40km/h, but someone standing on the road sees it at 90km/h. If you're in a space ship traveling at half the speed of light and you turn on a light. You perceive the light leaving at the speed of light, but so does person standing still. Weird huh? That's because the people in the ship are experiencing time differently, which is what this thread is about in the first place.

If you disregard Heisenburg's Law and could get something to absolute zero, yes, it would be black, but because it's dark not because it doesn't have colour properties, it'd be no different than putting it in a closed room with no light. The instant you shine light on it, you impart energy (photons have momentum and push on atoms when absorbed and moving atoms is heat,) which takes it out of absolute zero state. Of course, it doesn't change the fact that quantum physics doesn't allow it.

I'm going to be less tactful and charitable in my presentation here: you know jack shit about what you're talking about.

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no, i can't explain what temperature is

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What a surprise.

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but i can explain what it does

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This should be good.

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[i think] the only reason we can see an object is because it has a signature vibration

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Have you even heard of the concept of light? You know, that thing that bounces off stuff and allows us to see objects?

How can you not know that?

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i can't explain it but i'm pretty sure someone smarter that i am will get the jist of what's been said and gently slap you across the face with it

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Congratulations, you've just accused someone studying at one of the best universities in the world and who's scientific knowledge dwarfs yours as being ignorant when he has correctly pointed out you're wrong.

Here's a hint, the jist of what you've said is complete bullshit. The others are correctly pointing this out.

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from my head

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Ah, that explains many things. Like why he's right and you're hilariously wrong.

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i assume

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Well, you know what they say about assumptions.

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Originally Posted by Photolysis

Congratulations, you've just accused someone studying at one of the best universities in the world and who's scientific knowledge dwarfs yours as being ignorant when he has correctly pointed out you're wrong.

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is that what you thought i was doing

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Originally Posted by photolysis

Ah, that explains many things. Like why he's right and you're hilariously wrong.

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i do what i can with what i have

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Originally Posted by photolysis

Well, you know what they say about assumptions.

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i think i do, but shit i've been wrong about everything else

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Originally Posted by Photolysis

Congratulations, you've just accused someone studying at one of the best universities in the world and who's scientific knowledge dwarfs yours as being ignorant when he has correctly pointed out you're wrong.

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Where do you study? Princeton? Harvard? :)

I wasn't talking about myself :P

I did do a few years of Chemistry at a pretty respected UK university though. Oh man was there a lot of Physics to learn as part of the course.

Topic moved to Science & Mathematics. Carry on bright scholars.

This really wasn't a scientific thread. :/

Time dilation is general relativity and light is quantum physics. How is it not science? It was my decision to move it btw.

Well just because the OP was asking about meditation and things; it struck me as more philosophical and I don't think he really wanted to hear about relativity.

i'll keep my bs out if you want it moved back

You can barely spell, and confuse 'temperature' with 'heat'... yet you claim to have an understanding of how to slow time by manipulating temperature. Hmmm. The simple fact is, that outside of incredibly massive cosmic events (and a few other choice things) there is no way to actually slow/speed time significantly. It's all in the perception, and even more so in the memory of the event.

Tests have been done where athletes and people in hazardous situations are observed for any increased perception of time, and outside of heightened reflexes there was little effect. The "matrix" effect that some people claim to have felt (everything was in slow motion etc) are actually caused by the brain's perception and 'remembering' of memories which are slowed down after the fact.

ok

you know, the funny thing is that the crackpot in me has long suspected that the second law is actually the origin of time and more fundamental than it is normally given credit for. I'm neither inclined nor able to back that up ATM and I fully acknowledge that it is currently viewed as a purely statistical phenomenon that is emergent rather than fundamental. Seeing this thread makes me laugh though.