How do we experience time? - Matt Danzico

一個時間知覺的實驗 – Matt Danzico

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

譯者: Jessie Lee 審譯者: Regina Chu

Hello, humans.

人類好

My name is Matt

我叫麥特

and for the next several moments,

接下來的時間

you are going to listen to me.

你們要聽我說

Mwah, ha, ha, ha, ha.

哇，哈哈哈哈

Sorry. I'm just joking.

抱歉，我是開玩笑的

This is my normal voice.

這才是我正常的聲音

Have you ever taken direction

你曾經按照電腦發出的神秘語音操作指令嗎？

from a mysterious voice on the computer before?

你曾經按照電腦發出的神秘語音操作指令嗎？

No? Perfect!

沒有嗎？那太棒了！

I want to try an experiment with you,

我要請你做一個實驗

but I can't tell you what that experiment entails

可是我不能告訴你這實驗的目的

because if I do,

因為如果我講了

it won't work.

就沒效了

You'll just have to trust me.

你只要相信我

This will all make sense soon,

然後你很快就會知道為什麼了

hopefully.

希望如此

If you're sitting down,

如果你坐著

stand up from your chair and take a step back.

就站起來然後退一步

In a moment, I'm going to have you twirl around,

接下來我會請你原地轉圈

so give yourself a bit of space.

所以你需要騰出一點空間

Need to move some furniture around?

需要把一些傢俱搬開嗎？

Take your time.

慢慢來

I'll wait.

我會等你的

On the count of three,

當我數到三

you're going to start hopping on one foot.

你要開始單腳跳躍

Are you ready?

準備好了嗎？

One,

一

two,

二

three!

三

Hop,

跳

hop,

跳

hop,

跳

hop,

跳

hop.

跳

Nice work!

很好！

OK, while you're still hopping,

好，在你跳的時候

I now want you to begin barking like a dog.

我現在要你學狗叫

Ruff, ruff;

汪、汪

ruff, ruff;

汪、汪

ruff, ruff.

汪、汪

Wow, that's quite a bark!

哇！真的很像吔！

And a few more.

好，再來幾次

Ruff, ruff, ruff.

汪、汪、汪

And three,

三

two,

one,

二

一

stop!

停！

Feel free to relax and sit back down.

好，你坐下吧

Now, I want you think about how much time passed

現在我要你回想：

between the moment I said, "Go!"

從我說「跳」開始

and you began hopping on one foot

你花了多久的時間單腳跳躍

to the moment I said, "Stop!"

直到我喊「停」為止

Take a guess.

猜猜看

I'm looking for an exact number of seconds or minutes.

我要的是確切的幾分或幾秒

Now, with a pen and paper, write that number down.

用紙筆寫下來吧

All done?

好了嗎？

The exact time was actually 26 seconds.

你其實只花了 26 秒

Did you overestimate?

你多估了嗎？

Chances are that you did.

有很大的機率你真的多估了

So, what was the culprit?

是什麼害你多估了呢？

The culprit was time perception.

是時間知覺

Although we can make shockingly precise time estimates,

縱使我們有精準估測時間的驚人能力

when we experience something new, unusual, or dynamic,

當我們體驗一些新的不尋常的事物或是動態的活動

like hopping on one foot

例如單腳跳

while taking instructions from a voice on the computer,

當我們依電腦語音操作指令

or, say, jumping out of an airplane,

或者，從飛機上一躍而下

we often miscalculate how much time has passed.

我們常常誤算我們到底花了多少時間

Meaning, if you bungee jump for the first time,

又如同你第一次高空彈跳

your fall to the bottom may seem like it lasted for 10 seconds

從起跳到最低點感覺花了十秒鐘吧

while the recorded time may actually show

但是實際上紀錄的時間

that the jump only lasted for 5.

可能只有五秒

The reason for this difference is

這時間差的原因︰

unlike your body's physical drop to the bottom,

不同於身體墜落的知覺

your brain's perception of time does not follow

你的腦的時間知覺並不是依循

a straight line between two points.

兩點間的直線距離

Some scientists even believe

有些科學家甚至認為

your brain follows more of a curved path

你的腦依循的是條更彎曲的路徑

that is dependent on the amount of information

那路徑取決於你向下墜落時

you take in as you fall downwards.

所接收的資訊量

For example, David Eagleman,

例如 – 大衛·伊果曼

a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine,

貝勒醫學院的一位腦神經科學家

believes time perception is heavily influenced

他相信時間知覺

by the number of memories and data

深受腦袋記錄下的記憶和數據量的影響

you record onto your brain.

深受腦袋記錄下的記憶和數據量的影響

When you have a new experience,

當你有個全新的體驗

like jumping off a high dive for the first time,

例如第一次高空跳水

your senses are heightened.

你的知覺是更敏銳的

You're taking in more details

你接收的視覺、聽覺與嗅覺的細節

about sights, sounds, and smells

你接收的視覺、聽覺與嗅覺的細節

than you normally would.

比平時還要多

And you store more data onto your brain

而且你會以記憶的形式 在腦裡儲存更多的資訊

in the form of memories.

而且你會以記憶的形式 在腦裡儲存更多的資訊

So, the more data you store in your brain,

所以，當你在腦裡儲存更多的資訊

like the smell of chlorine as you leapt from the high dive

像是高空跳水躍下時氯的氣味

or the color of the water,

或是水的顏色

the longer your perception of that experience.

你對那經驗的時間知覺會更長

Meaning, the number of memories

那也就是說

and data you record on your brain

存在腦的記憶與資訊的量

has a direct impact on how long

對於你認為那經驗存續的時間長短 有直接的影響

you believe that experience to have lasted.

對於你認為那經驗存續的時間長短 有直接的影響

Have you ever heard a person recount

你曾聽過有人重新估算一場車禍的時間嗎？

what it's like to be in a car accident?

你曾聽過有人重新估算一場車禍的時間嗎？

Although automotive accidents typically last seconds,

儘管一般車禍都在幾秒鐘內發生

those involved often say they felt

但那些車禍當事人都說他們覺得

the accident lasted far longer.

車禍比幾秒鐘還要更久

Time perception can also account for

時間知覺也說明了

why your childhood may have seem to have lasted forever.

為何你的童年時光彷彿是永恆的

By adulthood, a year can slip by in a heartbeat,

成年之後，一年可以像一個心跳一樣短暫

but children record more data onto their brains.

但孩童在腦裡紀錄更多的資訊

This occurs because many of the experiences

這是因為許多孩提時的經驗

we have as children are new and unfamiliar to us.

都是前所未有的

The stack of encoded memories on your brain

在腦裡那些解碼的大量記憶是如此稠密

is so dense that reading them back makes you believe

讓你回溯那些記憶時覺得

your experiences must have taken forever.

那些經歷像永遠一樣那麼久

Additionally, when you're 5 years old,

再者，當你五歲時

one year is 1/5 of your life.

一年是你 1/5 的人生

But, when you're 25, one year makes up 1/25,

但是，當你 25 歲，一年只佔 1/25

further altering your perception of time.

更加地改變了你對時間的感覺

And, if you're an adult,

如果你是成人

think about a trip that you may have taken

回想你曾去的一個旅行

to a far-away land for the first time.

第一次去一個遙遠的國度

Didn't those two weeks you spent exploring your surroundings

你探索周遭環境的那兩週

seem to have lasted far longer than 14 days?

似乎比 14 天來得更長不是？

Though time perception is rooted

儘管時間知覺源自於

in both hard science and theory,

自然科學與學說

it provides a great lesson for us

但它給了我們寶貴的一堂課 –

on how to live our lives.

如何過我們的人生

I'm sure you have all heard

我相信你們都聽過

that a person shouldn't sit on a couch

不要虛擲光陰（意譯）

and let life pass them by.

不要虛擲光陰（意譯）

Well, time perception tells us why that is.

時間知覺告訴我們為什麼

If you get up and engage with the world

如果你起身與世界互動

and have new experiences,

擁有新的體驗

and maybe even hop around on one foot

也許來個單腳跳

and bark like a dog,

和學狗叫

you will literally perceive your own life

你會感覺你的生命比實際的時間還要久

to have lasted for a longer period of time.

你會感覺你的生命比實際的時間還要久