Measuring the Subjective Passage of Time: A Sociophysics Modeling

Area of Science:

• Sociophysics
• Psychology of Time Perception
• Subjective Time

Background:

• The subjective experience of time's passage is a fundamental aspect of human consciousness.
• Existing models often lack a quantitative framework to explain individual variations in time perception.
• Societal influences on personal time perception remain an area for deeper exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a quantitative sociophysics model for the individual perception of time's passage.
• To define and calculate subjective time, individual horizons, and speed of time.
• To investigate the impact of ritualized socializations on subjective time perception.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of an individualized, subjective time unit inversely proportional to experienced objective time.
• Definition of past and future individual horizons and subjective speed of time.
• Rescaling of subjective time units through ritualized socializations and application of a power law to mitigate time shrinking.

Main Results:

• Without ritual socialization, individuals perceive future life as "soft" infinity and past as "hard" infinity.
• Ritual socialization leads to a finite future perception, analogous to the infinity of birth.
• The model quantitatively explains the common feeling that time accelerates with aging.

Conclusions:

• Sociophysics offers a robust framework for modeling subjective time perception.
• Ritualized socializations significantly alter an individual's finite perception of future time.
• The model successfully reconciles the perceived acceleration of time with aging and the slowing of subjective time speed.