Why the Return Trip Seems Shorter Than the Trip There
We have all experienced a strange phenomenon where the trip home takes half the time of the trip. At the Washington Post, they are studying the “backtravel effect” to find out exactly why this is so.
There are several possible reasons for the “backtravel effect”, including the simple fact that when we tend to pay more attention to the passage of time, when we pay attention to time itself. When we are distracted from this, for example, when we see something new on a trip, time seems to move faster. The Washington Post notes that if you want time to move faster, pay more attention:
This idea is certainly present in the old proverbs – “a pot that is watched never boils” and “time flies by when you are having fun.” It also helps explain the phenomenon of time dilation when our lives are in danger. Obviously, this also happens in our memory: when we pay more attention to a certain period of time, we tend to remember that period of time as longer.
This leads to an interesting idea: by “remembering” or paying attention to the “here and now”, we can actually slow down the brain’s perception of time and make our life longer.
This is certainly not a new idea , but it is a good explanation for the strange feeling we all had.
The Science That Explains Why The Way Back Always Seems Shorter Than The Drive There | Washington Post