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I have an intuitive feeling that I am accelerating in the fourth dimension. As we get older, we all perceive time moving faster. Are there any arguments or theories in physics which address this change in our perception of time as we age?

I am thinking of time as the dimension orthogonal to depth.

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    $\begingroup$ There is a little book called Relativity, Geometry and the Fourth Dimension, which actually discusses many of these questions (and "paradoxes") in both an informative and amusing way (it even has a chapter on Gurdjief). (Of course there are others also, which i may not know) $\endgroup$
    – Nikos M.
    Jun 3, 2014 at 8:43

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Professional physics: no, you are not accelerating in time. The rate at which time passes for you is by definition constant. Even if you arranged for your friend to go back and forth in an unrealistically fast rocketship, and that friend saw you age faster, you yourself will move along at the same "speed through time" as far as you can tell.

Amateur psychology: Why is this perception surprising? When you are 5 years old, 1 year is a full 20% of your life. When you are 100, that whole year is only 1% of your life.

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  • $\begingroup$ Chris, doesn't the example of the friend simply highlight that our trajectories through time are independent, but not necessarily that my rate of movement through the 4th is constant? The amateur psychology explanation certainly makes sense, and I realize that simple changes in behavior can alter our perception of time, but it just kind of feels too easy. Occam may disagree. Thanks for humoring me. $\endgroup$
    – bcollins
    Jun 3, 2014 at 4:02
  • $\begingroup$ Time is relative. The rate at which time passes for you according to someone else's watch can be erratic, but the rate at which your time passes according to your own watch will never vary. $\endgroup$
    – user10851
    Jun 3, 2014 at 4:10
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    $\begingroup$ ¿How would you define "the rate at which time passes for you."? A rate has to be a ratio of one thing to another. ¿What are the two things here? $\endgroup$
    – joseph f. johnson
    Jun 3, 2014 at 4:44
  • $\begingroup$ Isnt time usually the denominator? Maybe rate of movement through the 4th would be time/some 5th dimensional unit? I'll go ahead and define it: seconds per stack...in honor of stackexchange. $\endgroup$
    – bcollins
    Jun 3, 2014 at 4:57
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No, there are not. It is possible that psychology, or bio-physics, could someday address the question of how memories or thoughts progress in your brain, and rates that control them and link them with perceptions or internal perceptions, but so far there are not any such studies in Physics.

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There is a biological You, not a physical one. About 90% of your molecules are replaced each year. How do the new ones know how fast too move.

In short: no

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