Time And Space

I know this has nothing to do with CPU. But!!! I need help with this from Slvr and Meph. Why when you have two days off from work they merge into one? When your at work time drags by? Any theories guys.
 

flamethrower205

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They merge into 1 chunk of restivity, but in fact are still two days. Work goes by fast, but the vacation flies by faster so in a sense, those two days are equivalent to 1 day at work. Hmmm......not as restful as you thought, is it?

All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.
 

slvr_phoenix

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Often alcohol contributes to this seeming effect of time altering. The reality however is that it just 'seems' to affect it because alcohol inhibits the brain's ability to function correctly, especially in matters of memory and logic.

While one could restrict their consumption of alcohol to reduce this, one has to also ask themself what the point of being off of work would even be then? ;)

However, if you are looking for the <i>actual</i> truth behind the the reason why time moves faster while off of work than while at work the answer itself is simple: Time is measured in two ways.

Traditionally modern man measures time using abstract devices of measurement called 'clocks'. The advantage to using this form of measurement is that cycles of time measured in this way are always identical no matter the location or situation. (Well ... almost. As in all things there are always exceptions when extreme situations are involved.) It is a shining example of man's ability to create mechanical devices to correct our own shortcomings.

Man however did not always have a 'clock' to use for measuring time. This brings us to the other way to measure time which is more instinctive to us, being a part of our very nature. In this method time is measured in a relational manner using the processing capability of our brains. It is similar to a trick used by many game programmers to ensure smooth performance of the interface regardless of the CPU's processing capabilities. Frequently measured in 'ticks', this method of time measurement is simply based upon how many iterations we observe. Should something affect the amount of abstract time needed to observe the relational ticks, then the number of relational ticks that occur over a given period of abstract time will change. Thus relational ticks are highly dependant upon their environment and the many influences it has upon our relational processor, the brain.

Unlike for games however which use the method of measuring 'ticks' to limit the amount of processing power involved so that the time flow feels equal regardless of processing power available, humans measure time in 'ticks' with as much processing power as can be made available.

While at work our brain is often times uninvolved in any significant processing, and therefore can spend more resources in the process of counting relational ticks. While at play our brain is quite frequently heavily occupied by many various enjoyable processes. Because of this it has less resources to use in counting relational ticks.

So the end result is that as humans, relational time measured in 'ticks' at work moves slowly because we can observe more units of time passing with nothing filling them. At home the measurement of relational time moves quickly however because we observe less 'ticks' between significant events, even if the same number of units of abstract time (as measured by a clock) are spent in activity.

And upon completing this post I am both surprised at my ability to BS and amazed at the complexity in which could have been simply said "Time flies while having fun." :O

"<i>Let's see what <b>Paragraph 84-B</b> has to say about it.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030724" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>
 

slvr_phoenix

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Unless you were ... oh darn, what was his name ... one of the DJs anyway ... from WKRP. Old TV show, I know (which is why I can't remember it well right now), but in one episode they proved this guy had better reflexes when under the influence of alcohol than when sober. Heh heh.

Actually that's kind of true of my wife too. She's a lot better at playing pool when she's drunk than when she's sober, which doesn't work well for me because I'm better when sober than when drunk. I guess that's the difference between an Aussie and a Yank for you. **ROFL** Us poor Americans are just brought up on piss-water instead of <i>real</i> beer and that seems to have a significant influence upon our ability to handle ourselves while drinking because over generations of breeding we naturally have less tolerant genetics.

"<i>Let's see what <b>Paragraph 84-B</b> has to say about it.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030724" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>
 

sonoran

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That was Dr Johnny Fever, man. Say, where is that copy of Pink Floyd's "Animals"? :)

As for beer and pool, I always seemed to play better with 1 or 2 beers (more relaxed, letting instinct and reflexes take over?) Beyond three beers my pool shooting ability steadily declined, along with lots of other more important functions.
 

ChipDeath

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Well, depending on how much I've eaten, and a few other factors, 2-3 pints of some decent beer (i.e. Stella) is usually my 'sweet spot' when it comes to pool, especially with regard to 'serious' pool [I play in a local league], as it helps with nerves, and tends to massively boost my confidence - which is probably the single biggest factor in my game...

*realises this has little to do with cpus..*
[Tenuous link to CPUs]
oh.... and....um... my Pc seems faster when I'm drunk.
[/Tenuous link]

[EDIT]
oh yeah - on the 'Drinking stateside' issue, I guess another factor is that it's much less socially acceptable to get drunk over there.... or so I've heard anyway.

Over here in good ol' blighty, it's almost as if the opposite is true. Amongst late teens & early-mid twenties you're generally regarded as a bit strange if you don't get hammered at the weekends.
[/EDIT]
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$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ChipDeath on 07/30/03 05:48 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

slvr_phoenix

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Actually, the truth is that I've found I can't drink beer... or anything malt-based like so many wine coolers and other fun bottled drinks. For some reason it just doesn't sit well with me. (Instant hot flashes and sick to my stomach. Hell, it might even count as a mild allergy.) Actually being intoxicated however isn't a part of that reaction, which makes it even less enjoyable.

So instead I generally drink vodka, khalua, or wine. (White russians are my favorite, especially when made with ice cream. Yum!) Though there was this one time when I was doing these shots of this cinamon flavored stuff with gold sparkles. That was cool stuff...

I dunno ... is it wrong to drink that kind of stuff like other people drink beer? (And is it weird that I actually take longer to get drunk doing this than most of my friends who drink beer-type-stuff?) It's definately more expensive, that's for sure. :( But being sick is no fun so I don't have much in the way of options.

Anywho, I'm still amazed at how well my wife handles herself when she's been drinking. Those darned Aussies. :) You can tell by how her personalty shifts in stages that she's getting drunk, but definately not by her reflexes or ability to walk straight. Heh heh. I guess it comes from all of the times that she's walked home from the pub? Beats me...

"<i>Let's see what <b>Paragraph 84-B</b> has to say about it.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030724" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>
 

ChipDeath

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cinamon flavored stuff with gold sparkles
That, my friend, I suspect is Goldschlager. If you like that, you could try 'hot'(red) Aftershock, if you can get hold of it, same taste..

I got truly hammered on that one night a few months ago. I was mixing Goldschlager w/ aftershock... BAD hangover...

I like kahlua too. Black russians are more my thing though... But I prefer the ones I make to ones you get in bars, cos they put coke in them, whereas I prefer a straight Vodka/Kahlua mix..

[EDIT]
and yeah - those ozzies can usually handle their drink quite well..

I don't see anything wrong with not drinking beer - I guess you may just be unlucky enough to be mildly allergic to the stuff.. If I developed such an allergy though, I'd probably just shoot myself :smile:
[/EDIT]

Actually, I'm going to go start a thread in 'Other' just to see what everyone's drinking habits are... I'm at work at the moment, but I'm waiting for the rain to stop before I ride home - something to do, innit?

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$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ChipDeath on 07/30/03 06:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

slvr_phoenix

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Dec 31, 2007
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That, my friend, I suspect is Goldschlager. If you like that, you could try 'hot'(red) Aftershock, if you can get hold of it, same taste..

I got truly hammered on that one night a few months ago. I was mixing Goldschlager w/ aftershock... BAD hangover...
Cool. Thanks for the info. :) :) :) I'll have to run out and get a bottle. I wonder if it mixes well with vodka... :O I luv thems gold sparklies.

Another small confession, I've never actually gotten hammered yet. :O I don't know how I've managed not to (especially the night that I was doing shots of the Goldschlager) but I haven't. No hangover yet either. I just might try to get that wasted this New Years because I'm curious what it's like, but I have to admit that I'm also kind of afraid to get <i>that</i> drunk.

I like kahlua too. Black russians are more my thing though... But I prefer the ones I make to ones you get in bars, cos they put coke in them, whereas I prefer a straight Vodka/Kahlua mix..
I have a sweet tooth, so I like smooth stuff. :) I prefer the ones that I make too though because then I also add a little bit of premixed mudslide stuff. :O It's just so yummy. Putting Coke in almost seems wrong somehow. If I wanted Coke I'd just get some rum. **LOL** Or there's the old JD and Dr.P that my friend used to drink. What a weirdo. Heh heh. (Though I suppose I should be glad that it at least wasn't the JD and Mountain Dew that another friend would mix in the plastic Dew bottles so that you could <i>see</i> it. Scary stuff. I believe he called that drink Hillbilly Piss...)

I don't see anything wrong with not drinking beer - I guess you may just be unlucky enough to be mildly allergic to the stuff.. If I developed such an allergy though, I'd probably just shoot myself
It does kinda suck. :( Especially since it also includes stuff like Zima and Mike's Hard Lemonade. It really kills your drinking selection. It also makes me wonder why wine coolers aren't made out of wine...

Actually, I'm going to go start a thread in 'Other' just to see what everyone's drinking habits are... I'm at work at the moment, but I'm waiting for the rain to stop before I ride home - something to do, innit?
Cool. Can you provide a direct link to the new topic? I'm at work too at the moment (even though I'm on lunch break) and the Other section often has choice words that shouldn't be on my work PC...

Damn I wish it was Friday...

"<i>Let's see what <b>Paragraph 84-B</b> has to say about it.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030724" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>
 

NateKingCole

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hmmm.... alcohol.
Favorite beer = all beer, but mostly Alexander Keiths, Becks, Stella Artoise, Guinness, and Caffrey's.

And back to the original topic. I read somewhere where some wierdo looks at his watch every 5 minutes while on vacation, and he swears that it "slows down time". I believe however that he's probably decreasing his fun value and therefor throwing the "time flies when you're having fun" back towards the time side. Try it if you want. It works.

Oh and yes, you Yanks do need to start drinking like the rest of the world. Canadians, Aussies, Russians, Germans... we all love to get pissed, haha.
 

ChipDeath

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<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=faq&notfound=1&code=1" target="_new">ClickyLinky</A>
Bottoms up! :smile:

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$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.
 

slvr_phoenix

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Dec 31, 2007
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ClickyLinky
To talk 'bout drinky. :)

Thanks for the link. I'll put it to good use.

Or bad use.

Or some sort of use anyway. ;)

"<i>Let's see what <b>Paragraph 84-B</b> has to say about it.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030724" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>
 

slvr_phoenix

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Where in darn nation thunder to you find all that? Or did you make it up while you where continplating the question with a logical answer.
It's a combination of misc. stuff that I've read in the past tossed together with an air of scientific sounding jargon to put it all together into one long answer that's probably at least pretty close to the truth. But more importantly it sounds a lot more impressive than the actual value of the information. :)

So it's really a combination of finding it in several odd sources of stuff that I've read over the course of my life combined with a bit of logical made-up<font color=blue>*</font color=blue> stuff to glue it together.

<pre><font color=blue>*</font color=blue> = By 'made-up' I mean likely to be true and
accurate, but since I'm not a published scientist what I
claim to be true and accurate may have very little meaning
to most.</pre><p>
"<i>Let's see what <b>Paragraph 84-B</b> has to say about it.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030724" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>
 

Mephistopheles

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Hey slvr, that first post of yours was great...

[BS]...counting iterations of thought is a way of measuring time subconsciously. Therefore, high intellectual activities increase the density of perception time encapsulated in a given real time period, and low intellectual activities - which is mostly the case when we're having fun - decrease this density. [/BS]

Great stuff indeed! :lol:

<font color=red><b>M</b></font color=red>ephistopheles
 

cdpage

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I Believe it has something to do with the Flux Capasitor...i had a theory about onece but can't remeber now ever since i smaked my head off the Bathroom sink :p

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