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It is extremely difficult to understand how a person subjectively perceives time. For the most part, this question remains open to science. However, psychologists have developed a theory of energy expenditure, which has found experimental confirmation.
The essence of the theory is that we perceive time in accordance with how much energy was spent. The more energy you have, the faster time flies. That is, we equate the elapsed time to our own energy consumption.
When we go on the way “there” – we strain, look for the way, look around, try to orient ourselves. This is how our energy is spent. The same thing happens when we do new work for the first time. It seems longer. However, on the way “back” (or when performing not complicated and already familiar work) – we turn on the “autopilot”, energy is saved, and time flies faster.
Most likely, this is due to the fact that when you eat on unknown roads. You have a constant analysis and assimilation of information about that area in your brain. Consequently, there is an additional load on the eyes and the central nervous system, and the illusion is created that this is a very long time. And when you come back, you just admire the already known. Based on previous experience(visual memory), you clearly know the route. By the way, migratory birds remember tens of thousands of kilometers.
This is not always the case, for many people it is different. For me, the return journey always feels longer. The road somewhere is perceived as part of the upcoming trip or any business, you are in anticipation, not yet tired, full of energy, anticipation and thoughts. The road back, this is the end… completion, everything planned has already been experienced, done, you want to return home as soon as possible (or to the starting point), but the road stretches tiresomely long.
There is another aspect. If you go to work without a spare time, or just rush to work for some reason, then the road seems longer. And when you go home, you may no longer think about being late, but just go or go as you go. On the way to work, the brain is hungry, ready for activity and focused on specific tasks, there is already a plan, an idea of what it will do. And on the way home, the brain is already resting from the day's impressions.
It's different for everyone. I often, on the contrary, hurry home and get annoyed with the walking speed limit, it seems too long to go. So I use a bicycle. The car would be even more annoying, since the bike path is shorter and there are no traffic jams.
Japanese psychologists have studied this question. ” They suggested that the return journey is perceived as shorter due to the person's confidence that arises from knowing the route already traveled. In science, this feeling is called retrospective reflection.”
An experiment was conducted in which people watched two 20-minute videos. In the first, they were shown two different roads, and in the second, the “round trip” path.�
While watching the video, the subjects gave a sign that three minutes had passed (they did not have a watch, they were guided by their own feelings).
It turned out that the video showing the way back seemed less long to them. At the same time, they did not feel that time passed faster during the viewing.
“Scientists believe that the perception of the return journey as shorter is not related to the sense of time as such, but to the perception of returning. “The reverse path effect is not a matter of measuring time. Rather, it depends on our judgment of time, which is based on memory, ” says study author Ryosuke Ozawa.
In earlier studies, scientists have linked the return trip effect to concentration and anticipation. When a person is going somewhere, they are focused on getting to the right place on time. On the way back, people, on the contrary, feel more relaxed and think about other things. Because of this, it seems that the road takes less time.”
If it is the first time, then it is due to the fact that the person is waiting for something, and when he comes back, the person is already (received, saw, etc.) not waiting, he is just relaxed, calm!
because the very road that leads back is familiar to you , you've been through it all, and it's boring already, you know everything, even the end .)
Because when we go somewhere ahead, we go to fulfill some goal or task, the brain adjusts to its implementation, and each of us wants to complete it as quickly and better as possible, so the attention of the mind is focused on the task and time feels better.
Returning somewhere, a person does not feel the need to hurry, the brain relaxes and walking is already “automatic” the mind perceives time much less.
Because when you go THERE, you realize that you still have to go back, and even when you reach your destination, you realize that the route is not finished yet. Moving in the opposite direction, you realize that the finish line of your route is waiting for you ahead.
The road home always seems shorter.
And here's what they write about it in the magazine “Around the World”:
“Psychologists from Kyoto University (Japan) tried to explain this phenomenon from a scientific point of view.
They suggested that the return journey is perceived as shorter due to the person's confidence that arises from knowing the route already traveled. In science, this feeling is called retrospective reflection.
Scientists conducted an experiment among 20 men aged 20 to 30 years. Representatives of the stronger sex were asked to take off their watches and watch two 20-minute videos. In the first video, psychologists showed the experiment participants two different roads, and in the second video, the men saw a path in one direction and back.
While watching the video, the volunteers signaled when they thought three minutes had passed. After the end of the videos, the scientists asked the men to answer which tape lasted longer. It turned out that the video showing the way back seemed less long to them. At the same time, they did not feel that time passed faster during the viewing.
Scientists believe that the perception of the return journey as shorter is not related to the sense of time as such, but to the perception of returning. “The reverse path effect is not a matter of measuring time. Rather, it depends on our judgment of time, which is based on memory, ” says study author Ryosuke Ozawa.
In earlier studies, scientists have linked the return trip effect to concentration and anticipation. When a person is going somewhere, they are focused on getting to the right place on time. On the way back, people, on the contrary, feel more relaxed and think about other things. Because of this, it seems that the road takes less time.
Earlier, scientists from the University of Montreal (Canada) came to the conclusion that a long road to work leads to professional burnout. The risk increases if a person spends more than 20 minutes at work.”
Ilona Terekhova
Source: PLOS