Can Thinking Fast Slow Down Time in Relativity?

In summary, the conversation discusses the idea that in a stressful situation, time seems to slow down due to the increased speed of thinking in the brain. The concept of relativity and its application to personal time dilation is also brought up, but ultimately deemed as personal speculation and not a scientific explanation. The thread is then closed due to the violation of the forum's rules against personal speculation.
  • #1
jaketodd
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In a stressful situation, when you're thinking rapidly, time really does seem to slow down. Like "that was the longest 30 seconds of my life."

Since thinking is made up of the firing of action potentials in neurons, could those events, in the brain, work with relativity to slow down personal time? When thinking rapidly, the brain, as a whole, is "moving" faster, or at least "computing" faster. So, is that why exciting or perilous situations seem to take forever?
 
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  • #2
No
 
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  • #3
jaketodd said:
Since thinking is made up of the firing of action potentials in neurons, could those events, in the brain, work with relativity to slow down personal time?
No, because nerve impulses inside your brain move, relative to the rest of your brain, much much slower than the speed of light, so relativistic effects are negligible.
 
  • #4
No - is a physiological effect, not a physical one.

The only way you could get a personal time dilation effect that was noticeable to human perception would be to accelerate your whole head to upwards of 0.5c and keep it there. The side effects of the acceleration would be... unpleasant for anyone in the vicinity, and messily fatal to you.
 
  • #5
If we are the computation of our minds, neurons firing, then wouldn't thinking more rapidly perhaps increase the speed of who we are, therefore slowing time of our beings? An extension of relativity into consciousness.
 
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  • #6
jaketodd said:
If we are the computation of our minds, neurons firing, then wouldn't thinking more rapidly perhaps increase the speed of who we are, therefore slowing time of our beings? An extension of relativity into consciousness.
The OP of this thread was already borderline personal speculation. This post is now over the border. Personal speculation is off limits here at PF.

Thread closed.
 
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1. Can thinking fast really slow down time in relativity?

There is currently no scientific evidence to suggest that thinking fast can slow down time in relativity. While our perception of time may change based on our mental state, it does not have an impact on the actual passage of time in relativity.

2. How does time dilation in relativity affect our perception of time?

Time dilation in relativity refers to the phenomenon where time appears to pass slower for objects moving at high speeds. This can impact our perception of time, but it is not solely dependent on our thinking speed. Other factors such as velocity and gravity also play a role in time dilation.

3. Is there a limit to how much time can be slowed down in relativity?

According to the theory of relativity, time dilation can occur at any speed, but the effects are only noticeable at extremely high speeds. There is no known limit to how much time can be slowed down, but it becomes increasingly difficult to measure as the speed increases.

4. Can our thoughts affect the passage of time in relativity?

Our thoughts do not have a direct impact on the passage of time in relativity. However, our perception of time may be influenced by our thoughts and mental state. This is because our perception of time is subjective and can be influenced by various factors.

5. How does the theory of relativity explain the concept of time?

The theory of relativity explains that time is not absolute and can be influenced by factors such as speed and gravity. It states that time is a relative concept and can appear differently to different observers depending on their relative motion and position in space. This is known as the theory of time dilation.

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