Tag: time perception

Rethinking the 100-meter dash

David Dempsey1 Comment

What’s the smallest unit of time that you can perceive. How much does it change throughout the day? At what points does time fly? 

I’ve noticed is that as I relax my mind and see better, my “now” becomes longer. I think it’s why if you focus on a single point when you’re running or working out, you perform better. Because the more “nows” between me and my destination, the worse I’m going to run. Counter-intuitively, the choppier the curves of now, the smoother the time feels. So the fewer points that time stops, the faster time flies. 

Is there any math behind this theory? Yes. Simple calculus. Integre_area37115

Calculus is the math behind finding the exact area of the curve. Take a look at this curve. For a moment, I want you to imagine the curve as time it takes you to run 10 meters. The chops of the curve are your instantaneous now. As you stress your mind and body, these shorten. And you run slower, and you use more energy. The key to your fastest race is the thickest bars under the graph [after you get going]. 

Think about the 100-meter dash. Let’s assume that everyone has perfect running form, and a perfect start. Usain Bolt takes 41 strides, Justin Gatlin takes 42.5, Johan Blake takes 46. Why does that matter? The person that wins the 100-meter dash is the person that slows down the least. Everyone slows down. And if everyone has the same top speed, and gets to that speed in the same amount of time, the only difference between Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin is that Gatlin slows down a little more over the course of the race. His relative “now” is slightly shorter than Bolts, meaning that he’ll need more strides to complete the race. And more energy. And more time. 

There’s one more important thing to discuss about the 100-meter dash. The acceleration phase. The portion of the race where the runner accelerates to top speed. This portion rewards those that compress time the most. The harder you push, the shorter the amount of time between strides, the faster you accelerate. 

So before you write off the 100-meter dash as a simple display of athleticism, remember the delicate balance of rest and relaxation. The race pits runners against each other, and against themselves. Push too hard, and you’ll come up short. Don’t push hard enough, and you lose. Transitioning two opposing mindsets is key as the runners changing their perception of time throughout the race. 

Sources:

  1. https://news.ncsu.edu/2011/06/wms-dogs/
  2. https://animalogic.ca/wild/7-near-psychic-animals-that-might-just-be-able-to-predict-disasters-before-they-happen

Why Do We Cry?

David Dempsey

Crying is the shedding of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, pain or a physical irritation of the eye. Emotions that can lead to crying include anger, happiness, or sadness. The act of crying has been defined as “a complex secretomotor phenomenon characterized by the shedding of tears from the lacrimal apparatus, without any irritation of the ocular structures”, instead, giving a relief which protects from conjunctivitis. A related medical term is lacrimation, which also refers to non-emotional shedding of tears. Various forms of crying are known as sobbing, weeping, wailing, whimpering, bawling, and blubbering.

So essentially, we cry in extreme emotional situations, whether that be anger, happiness or sadness. And extreme pain. Oh, and onions. 

Take a moment and stare and something. Hold your eyes open long enough so that tears come out. So there is a limit to how long you can hold your eyes open without blinking, right? And typically, at that point, your eyes will water. 

So if we take our view of time dilation as it relates to stress, the human perception of time contracts as the stress increases. So in your most emotional moments, your brain is so active, that seconds seem like minutes. Time literally freezes. And if time froze when your eyes were open, you know what would happen? Your eyes would dry out. So you produce tears. Crying is a symptom of high brain activity which drastically slows the individual’s perception of time.

Sources

  1. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/why-do-we-cry-the-science-of-tears-9741287.html
  2. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-humans-the-only-prima/
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crying
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/science/onions-crying-chemicals.html

High blood pressure starts in the brain

David Dempsey6 Comments

We’ve proven how the brain perceives time, and your blood pressure is a sign of this perception. How? The second derivative of time is a variable in pressure. And this pressure is in the closed system of your body.

Here’s some more detail for those who want it, from a physics nerd. Pressure equals force/area. Force equals mass times acceleration. Acceleration is the change in velocity over time. Time here is relative to the subject. Relative to their brain activity. 

We control our own time. Our time is represented in our blood pressure. So current blood pressure essentially equals current time perception. Thus, it would make sense that people with a history of high blood pressure would die the soonest. They are aging the fastest. Well, in theory. One blood pressure reading is really just the instantaneous time perception.

Have I done an adequate job getting to this point? Probably not. We experience time differently. We age differently. These things are related. Athletes age slowest, and use their brains the best. The more stress we have in our lives, the more we age, the faster our time accelerates, and the higher our blood pressure, and the worse athletes we become.

So next time you go to the doctor, and read 140/80, they may be right that you’re going to die early, but they have no idea why. How can the medications they give you solve your problem if they don’t understand the organ that’s effected first?

Sources:

  1. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/17/real-cause-heart-attacks.aspx
  2. https://www.medicinenet.com/high_blood_pressure_hypertension/article.htm#what_is_high_blood_pressure_what_is_normal_blood_pressure
  3. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/GettheFactsAboutHighBloodPressure/The-Facts-About-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002050_Article.jsp#.WyhfqUgvzrc
  4. https://www.healthline.com/health/high-blood-pressure-hypertension/blood-pressure-reading-explained#hypotension
  5. https://www.everydayhealth.com/hypertension/understanding/what-does-blood-pressure-measure.aspx
  6. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/blood-pressure-and-your-brain

 

You control your sunburn

David Dempsey7 Comments

Well, to some extent. 

Think about the last time you went to the beach. You now the drill. Some people will burn in fifteen minutes and others won’t burn for hours, even if they are the same skin tone. How can this be the case?

It’s because of the medication they’re taking. Yes, maybe. But why?

Each person perceives time differently. Remember, time does not exist. So it’s your perception of time that actually either speeds up or slows down your actual sun exposure. The greater amount of strain you have in your life [there are all kinds of sources], the less time you can stay in the sun without burning.

It sounds ridiculous even writing it, but just think about it. We have proven that our perceptions of time effect aging, menstrual cramps, puberty, and blinking. Your perception of time controls how much damage the sun can do to you in the same amount of time as someone else.

What about skin cancer? It’s a real thing. Sunscreen helps prevent it, but what sunscreen does is shield you from the suns rays. And your body benefits from the sun. Oh, and there are types of skin cancer that people get in places the sun doesn’t touch.

Skin cancer is essentially the latter stage of skin aging. The risk factors for skin cancer are age, fair skin, radiation, smoking, and being a guy. If you’ve read any of my other posts, these shouldn’t surprise you.

Why do men get skin cancer so much more often than women? It’s the same reason that women live longer. Generally speaking, they perceive time slightly better than men. Meaning that your average woman will be more patient than your average man, but just not for reasons your thinking. One hour for a man will just seem much longer than it will for a woman. This obviously varies from person to person, and from day to day. 

Old people get skin cancer more often. The average age of melanoma is 63. And we’ve proven that aging starts in the brain.

Your skin can still recover and adapt. So wear sunscreen, or don’t. But sunscreen or not, when you get burnt it’s time to cover up.  So here’s a crazy idea, your skin is a living thing, just like your muscles. We stress our muscles to get stronger. Allow them time to recover, and repeat. That’s how we should view sun exposure.

Ok. So what do I do now? Just continue living your life. Start thinking about what you’re doing every day that makes you burn faster than all of your friends. Because that’s what’ll kill you. Not the sun.

Sources:

  1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-and-science-aging-well/201702/why-do-women-live-longer-men
  2. https://www.melanoma.org/understand-melanoma/preventing-melanoma/facts-about-sunscreen
  3. https://www.cancer.gov/types/skin/melanoma-photos
  4. https://www.skincancerprevention.org/skin-cancer/risk-factors
  5. https://gis.cdc.gov/Cancer/USCS/DataViz.html
  6. https://www.skincancer.org/healthy-lifestyle/anti-aging/seniors
  7. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-sunscreen-protec/
  8. https://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts
  9. http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2014/01/28/3930977.htm
  10. https://www.quora.com/Are-there-more-cases-of-skin-cancer-near-the-equator