I was recently reflecting on 24 versus 12-hour thinking, specifically how my mental perceptions of time shift when I use each. Some years back, I decided the 24-hour system was better, because I don't like the need for the am/pm to be remembered/written seperately from the numbers. I haven't fully adapted to 24-hour thinking, but I'm certainly also not thinking primarily in 12-hour mode. Anyhow, what I've noticed is that my perception of time isn't flat. Somehow, conceptually the distance between 10:00 and 11:00 seems shorter than the distance between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. I imagine this might be partly because of what I remember doing at those times, but it also may be that, perhaps acquired when I was learning math, I built some kind of association with the raw numbers themselves. In 24-hour time, I don't have such strong associations -- the difference between 19:00 and 20:00 feels closer to the difference between 13:00 and 14:00. This fascinates me. Yesterday, while driving to the PAA for dinner, I was worried about being late, due to meet N at 7. It was 6:40, and I kept thinking about when I would be calm (I actually was fairly unworried, but the idea of being worried came up) versus worried, and I noticed that it seemed to be attached around certain set numbers, instead of being a smooth scale. When I mentally scooted our meeting time forward a few minutes, it was revealed as not being time-until so much as something more complex. Hmm. Yes, there are some stray associations going on in there, I think.

To those of my friends who celebrate these things, happy Rosh Hashanah.

This might amuse. Yeah, I found it on Slashdot. Maybe you don't read slashdot though... And while we're being political, here you can watch the two main candicates say so much about the issues that they don't say anything at all. No wonder some ostriches think the two parties are literally identical.

Bill Gates has donated some big money to CMU. Apparently, we're to have a Gates Building. How embarassing. I also find myself wondering why they've chosen the place they've chosen for the building -- it's not a very spacious place, and the new grassy area will close a really useful road through campus. I guess that's not so bad when I think about it though.

Love is a complicated thing sometimes. It's very rewarding though. I think I'm going to rollerblade around the neighborhood unless some better idea comes along.

I would suggest that your changing perception of time's linearity comes as a result of the associations and habits connected with those times. For instance, at 10:00, you are probably looking forward to lunch, considering whether you would prefer curry or wor su gai on that particular day. The same goes for 19:00 to 20:00... you have likely finished dinner, and are considering ways to enjoy your evening (even if that entails returning to the office to mull over an anomalous scan result). At 2 in the afternoon, though, you're just getting back from lunch, look at the pile on your desk, and groan as you realize it's larger than when you left.

This, of course, is just a theory, and considering that space-time is curved anyways, probably bunk ;) -Chris