Re:Ask HN: Any hackers over 60? 70?
by Dewie on Sunday April 06, 2014 @11:24AM
(#7541237)
I can't relate to this. The fact that you have lived for 23 rather than 10 years might make a single year feel less significant in retrospect, but there is no obvious connection to how you feel about that year when it is actually happening.
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But the same thing applies to days, or even hours. So while every microsecond is the same, at the end of the second, in retrospect it was a faster second. And at the end of the hour, in retrospect, a faster hour, etc.
What if you walk up a ladder? 1 meter isn't that far, but 2 meter is a lot farther up. Difference between 10 and 11 meters -- can you even tell?
I've tried (and failed) to run a marathon. It certainly didn't feel any shorter as I progressed.
When it comes to measuring progress through life, I think walking is a better image than running. Also, it's not really a dash towards the end, is it?
Thinking more about this, if you're running at a marathon, your concerned not with how far you've come, but how far is left. Such a view of life isn't likely to be very productive. I still think my point holds for your marathon effort -- 1 meter after start is very different from 2 meters after start (or say 50 and 100) -- however the difference between 1000m and 1001 (1050) -- not really easily perceptible without some kind of aid?