ComiCentric Issue 85: The 70s was 50 years ago? – Time is an illusion
Upon the tapestry of human experience, time often weaves an intricate fluctuating pattern, sometimes playing tricks on our perceptions. Consider the phenomenon of feeling as though the 1970s were merely three decades ago. When, the reality is, five decades have gracefully unfolded. This quirky disjunction between time fluctuating feelings and objective temporal reality is a dance our minds engage in, influenced by a mélange of psychological, cultural, and factors in life.
The Perceived Time Quirk: Merging time and space.
Memory, our cranial capricious custodian of our clandestine CPU, tends to compress and rearrange events. As the years roll by, the vivid hues of specific moments may blend into a more generalized recollection, creating a temporal illusion where the past feels akin to a recent memory. The mundane and the momentous, the routine and the radical, all find themselves amalgamated in the kaleidoscope of memory.
Routine and familiarity also play a role in this temporal sleight of hand. As daily life settles into comfortable patterns, the mind, in its efficiency, glosses over the chronological intricacies of the past. The once-bold imprints of bygone years become softer, and the ticking of the clock seems to quicken. In other words getting old sucks but there is no way through it but through it .
Getting old sucks but there is no way but through.
Cultural references further muddle the temporal waters. The constant resurgence of past aesthetics in popular media can imbue the era with a perpetual sense of contemporaneity. Whether it’s the timeless allure of 70s disco music, 80s clothing style, or the resurgence of 90s JNCOs, cultural echoes create a bridge between then and now, narrowing the perceived temporal expanse.
Yet, amidst these perceptual quirks, the cold, unyielding measurement of time marches on. The past, with its political upheavals, cultural revolutions, and iconic moments, stands as a testament to the inexorable flow of history. Thus, the conundrum persists — a dance between the felt and the factual, where the subjective experience of time, like a waltz, twirls in harmony with the ticking clock.