Felt Time: The Science of How We Experience Time (Mit Press)
Product ID: 41779541
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An expert explores the riddle of subjective time, from why time speeds up as we grow older to the connection between time and consciousness. We have widely varying perceptions of time. Children have trouble waiting for anything. (“Are we there yet?”) Boredom is often connected to our sense of time passing (or not passing). As people grow older, time seems to speed up, the years flitting by without a pause. How does our sense of time come about? In Felt Time , Marc Wittmann explores the riddle of subjective time, explaining our perception of time—whether moment by moment, or in terms of life as a whole. Drawing on the latest insights from psychology and neuroscience, Wittmann offers a new answer to the question of how we experience time. Wittmann explains, among other things, how we choose between savoring the moment and deferring gratification; why impulsive people are bored easily, and why their boredom is often a matter of time; whether each person possesses a personal speed, a particular brain rhythm distinguishing quick people from slow people; and why the feeling of duration can serve as an “error signal,” letting us know when it is taking too long for dinner to be ready or for the bus to come. He considers the practice of mindfulness, and whether it can reduce the speed of life and help us gain more time, and he describes how, as we grow older, subjective time accelerates as routine increases; a fulfilled and varied life is a long life. Evidence shows that bodily processes—especially the heartbeat—underlie our feeling of time and act as an internal clock for our sense of time. And Wittmann points to recent research that connects time to consciousness; ongoing studies of time consciousness, he tells us, will help us to understand the conscious self.
| Dimensions | 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches |
| Edition | Reprint |
| Grade Level | 12 and up |
| Isbn 10 | 0262533545 |
| Isbn 13 | 978-0262533546 |
| Item Weight | 2.31 pounds |
| Language | English |
| Print Length | 185 pages |
| Publication Date | April 7, 2017 |
| Publisher | MIT Press |
| Reading Age | 18 years and up |
User
Fascinating insights into the psychology of time
I'm interested in time--as the context in which I and everyone else lives. I'm 75 years old, so I'm more conscious of how I think about and use my time than I have ever been before. I've read a few other books on this topic. This one is the best! It is very informative about a wide range of topics on which time plays a major part. It draws on a wide range of sources, integrates them creatively, and adds fresh insights on each theme addressed. It is well-written and quite an engaging read. I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. It was relatively short, but so jam-packed with ideas that it felt like I had been on a long and fascinating journey. Its ideas kept returning to my mind long afterwards. I recommend this book highly!
User
Worth a read
I liked this book, and it gave me some useful insights into how we experience time. I felt that in a couple of chapters he seemed to wander outside his area of expertise, but his thoughts were worth reading. I felt that this book added to my knowledge and understanding.
User
Good read, but not for
Focusing more on examples on how humans experience time, than explaining how we experience time. Good read, but not for research
User
Highly recommended.
An absorbing read on a topic that few write about with the kind of research background that Wittmann has. I've been able to take his descriptions of felt time and apply them in the classroom when explaining some of the dynamics of substance use and the challenges of recovery from misuse. Time perception lies at the heart of many disorders of thinking and behaving and a focus on this one dimension of human perception offers a unique and fresh way to enter into how different consciousnesses take in the world.Delightfully, the book is short and does not suffer from what seems the norm these days - endless repetitions of contents that could be handled with economy. This is a well written and well supported set of ideas about how our perception of time affects our views of self and situations. Highly recommended.
User
Great, satisfying and stimulating read.
Marc does a great job of distilling a meaty topic down to consumable bites that both pique interest and actually create the rare science-based page turner, even for non-scientists.
User
Serious science made palatable
Good for therapists, counselors, scientists, people in medicine. Not easy reading. Could be updated with recent developments. Solid academic citations
User
A very interesting read
Very informative and thorough. Help rethink and shape some of my perceptions and preconceptions about time, self and the prospect of death.
User
Thorough, yet INCREDIBLY frustrating to try to read
This book seems very thorough. .....Yet It's incredibly frustrating to read.The author constantly lumps contradictory information in the same paragraphs. This might be ok if there was obvious directional phrasing that illustrated a central point (via a paragraph, -as is conventional).Yet, long, comma tagged sentences compounded by a declaration contradicting an example in a previous sentence, makes for confounding reading. - argh.I so want it to be a good book.Guess I'm not smart enough.
User
Well written and easy reading
This book explains such an abstract and scientific topic in a simple way yet rich in context and research. Highly recommended!
User
boring. This book would have benefited tremendously of a ...
The subject matter is fascinating but the writing style here (or lack of) makes it quite... boring.This book would have benefited tremendously of a real re-writing, and shortening it too.
User
Scientific and provocative
Interesting perspective based on scientific research and reasoning. Definitely worth a read!
User
Good, but limited
Interesting in as much as a study of our perception of time can be. However, of you're more interested in the nature of time, look elsewhere .
User
Mind blowing.
Discovered this book accidently, so glad I did.
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