Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

According to our unscientific office poll, the annual changing of the clocks has all the popularity of a root canal. With few exceptions, people described the shift to and from Daylight Saving Time as disorienting, arbitrary, and unwelcome.

On a more existential level, winding the clocks back and forth reminds us that no matter how concrete minutes and hours may feel, the way we perceive time is fluid. Time flies when you’re having fun. A watched pot never boils. 

So to celebrate (or perhaps protest) another year setting back the clocks, the Outside/In team has uncovered four mini-stories that will poke at, stretch, or even obliterate your perception of time. From “time expansion experiences”, to time-space synaesthesia, to the slow-motion life of a fly, prepare for a totally different type of time warp.

Featuring Steve Taylor, Rhitu Chatterjee, Kevin Healy, Katherine Akey, and Patricia Lynne Duffy.

This episode was produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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LINKS

“To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on ‘toddler time’,” by Rhitu Chatterjee, is part of NPR’s special series “Finding Time.”

“Can you see time?” (BBC News), by Victoria Gill, includes a drawing depicting an example of what a year might look like to a synesthete.

Research reveals which animals perceive time the fastest (ScienceDirect)

“When Seconds Turn Into Minutes: Time Expansion Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness,” by Steve Taylor (ResearchGate)

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