People often say that as one gets older, time passes more quickly, while in youth, time seems to move more slowly. The reason individuals feel that time goes by more slowly when they are young is likely due to a decline in memory. As children, people have limited experience, so everything feels new, and they tend to remember new things well. Having less experience translates to fewer memories. Because there are so many new memories, children perceive time as passing slowly. However, as people age, experience accumulates, and they typically become better at predicting situations, making it easier to cope, resulting in fewer surprises. Since these experiences are not exceptional, they tend to forget them, and when reflecting on the past, there’s little to recall, creating the sensation that time flies. Among the aspects of aging, what is scarier than the decline of the senses is the deterioration of expectations. If the flavor of food becomes predictable based on accumulated experience, ...
Life can feel joyful when we have many close relationships, but this often gradually brings more anguish as well. Intimacy is also crucial to us, yet just as much as it is, “blatant ignorance” and a “healthy dose of distance” significantly influence our happiness. For instance, I can’t eat meat from a slaughtered cow that I have carefully nursed, but I am content eating the meat from a cow that I did not nurture. The fact that I have made money means my gains are a return for the damages of someone unknown to the economic system of this world, yet I can only be happy because I do not know adequately. Without blatant ignorance and a healthy dose of distance , our happiness deteriorates terribly. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”