arikb1 votesThursday, January 24, 2008 at 11:38 AM
This sounds surprisingly like a phenomena called "Time distortion" in altered states. This is something that is very reproducible and doesn't take a decade to learn.
tyrhaynes1 votesThursday, January 24, 2008 at 2:21 PM
I agree Arik it doesn't take a decade to learn. Going into the zone was one of the secondary skills I used to teach during fencing and kendo training or playing guitar/bass. Its a matter of paying attention to attention and being fluid. I think most anyone who is skilled at a task to the point where it becomes instinctual achieve a certain level of ability at time distortion. Or in other words the skill is learned at the nervous system level.
For me it seems that you are slightly detached from yourself looking at the environment and just doing what needs to be done. Kind of a type of intuitive thought and response. Interesting enough emotionally I'm either completely neutral or I'm experiencing what I call "cold rage."
What I don't understand is: how does his sense of time affect his performance? For example, when I'm engaged in a fun activity, time flies quickly; but that doesn't mean that my brain is reacting slowly! And the same with bad times. If you're in a sad or painful situation, it feels like forever, but that has nothing to do with the speed of your brain activity.
I once saw a documentary on TV about this. They were trying to test whether the brain runs faster in certain conditions. So they brought a small plate with LEDs on it. Normally you wouldn't be able to read what number it's showing because it blinks very fast at random intervals. A man falling from a deadly height could in fact read the number while in mid air!
philosophistry1 votesThursday, January 24, 2008 at 9:14 PM
When I read Age of Spiritual Machines, I got keyed into the section related to "how time is the distance between paradigm shifts." I then ran an experiment on myself to see how long I could stretch time for myself by paradigm shifting. I kept trying to spike myself with life lesson after life lesson, with an infinite feedback loop of ever increasing complexity and intensity, to a complexity even beyond the simple formula of "an infinite feedback loop of ever increasing complexity" and even more interesting than a guy just being on a descending chain of meta-meta-meta-cognition a la Godel Escher Bach, and ICANHAZCHEEZEBURGER nonsequitors included, etc...
And I did this for like 24 hours, and man, that was like Hoffman's Bicycle Day. What a crater in my life. Well, I got physically ill, which was bad timing because I had to go on a dorm ski trip. And so I put aside that method. But that was something.
-- Arik
For me it seems that you are slightly detached from yourself looking at the environment and just doing what needs to be done. Kind of a type of intuitive thought and response. Interesting enough emotionally I'm either completely neutral or I'm experiencing what I call "cold rage."