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Life flashes before your eyes quote5/11/2023 ![]() In many altered states of consciousness, time slows down so dramatically that seconds seem to stretch out into minutes. A good deal of previous research – including my own – has suggested that our normal perception of time is simply a product of our normal state of consciousness. ![]() This could explain why some people are able to review the events of their whole lives in an instant. This idea reflects the view of the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who argued that time is not an objectively real phenomenon, but a construct of the human mind. The modern physicist Carlo Rovelli – author of the best-selling The Order of Time – also holds the view that linear time doesn’t exist as a universal fact. They argue we live in a static “block universe” in which time is spread out in a kind of panorama where the past, the present and the future co-exist simultaneously. Indeed, since Einstein’s theory of relativity, some physicists have adopted a “spatial” view of time. But modern physics has cast doubt on this simple linear view of time. Our commonsense view of time is as an arrow that moves from the past through the present towards the future, in which we only have direct access to the present. Thinking in ‘spatial’ timeĪn alternative explanation is to think of time in a “spatial” sense. And none of these theories explain how it’s possible for such a vast amount of information – in many cases, all the events of a person’s life – to manifest themselves in a period of a few seconds, and often far less. This could be related to “ cortical disinhibition” – a breaking down of the normal regulatory processes of the brain – in highly stressful or dangerous situations, causing a “cascade” of mental impressions.īut the life review is usually reported as a serene and ordered experience, completely unlike the kind of chaotic cascade of experiences associated with cortical disinhibition. A handful of theories have been put forward, but they’re understandably tentative and rather vague.įor example, a group of Israeli researchers suggested in 2017 that our life events may exist as a continuum in our minds, and may come to the forefront in extreme conditions of psychological and physiological stress.Īnother theory is that, when we’re close to death, our memories suddenly “unload” themselves, like the contents of a skip being dumped. Perhaps surprisingly, given how common it is, the “ life review experience” has been studied very little. In some cases, people don’t see a review of their whole lives, but a series of past experiences and events that have special significance to them.
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