The Secret Pulse of Time: Making Sense of Life's Scarcest Commodity

Interesting book. I preferred The Science of Happiness (truly a life-changing book for me), but I learned a lot from this. It's been a while since I read it, so I can't elaborate at this point. The main thing I took away was the relationship between memory and the perception of time. It's impacted how I view my own life in relation to time. He says at one point that one person can feel like he's lived twice as long as another, even though they're both 50, because of the variety of experiences and richness of his memories compared to the other. He makes the point elsewhere that an event will sometimes feel infinitely far in the past and yet can feel like it happened a moment ago. This is a paradox of how human memory operates. These, of course, are things we all know instinctively, but he provides scientific and philosophical analysis (he has training in both) to help elucidate why this is.I felt like the writing flowed awkwardly at times. Or that he moved on too quickly from certain topics which would have been worthwhile to explore at greater length. I didn't come away from it thinking it deserved 5 stars, but I'd have to revisit it to remember exactly why that was. It's definitely one that's worth reading twice. A lot of helpful information I've already forgotten after less than a year!

TIME is a neuropsychological book written by a reporter. Thus, despite the intriguing topic, it can be wordy and lacking in depth at times.I started TIME, grew tired of the style, put it aside... then found myself thinking about various issues raised in the book. After telling several friends "not to bother" reading TIME, I found myself reading it, drawn in by the subject matter.So the book grew on me.More, I'm not aware of other neuropsychological books that address this topic head-on. Our brains have co-opted movement modules to tackle "time." Wow. Now there's a thought to chew on. Time -- for me at least -- certainly does seem longer and richer when I hike or spend 6 hours cycling a century than when I surf the web.Drawn in my "time" and the psychology of time? You could do a lot worse than TIME. And if you know there may be "style issues" upfront, perhaps they won't trouble you.Dr. Kirtland Peterson

In brief: This is a book mainly on the perception of time. It mainly deals with therefore the psychology of time. The biological aspect (regarding the biological clock) of time is also described. There are also social commentries on how we handle our time.Do not expect however any in-depth discussion on the mathematics or the physics of time. There is indeed a chapter on relativity but it is quite superficial indeed.

The Secret Pulse of Time is a very interesting book that looks at time from a number of angles, most notably cultural and neuroscience angles. I found it to be a refreshing read because it didn't focus on the conventional approach, which is usually physics, but actually delved into other disciplines and there take on time. The author also provided some excellent examples to back up what he was discussing. I found some of his thoughts on information overload particularly relevant, especially with the advent of social media. I highly recommend this book.

Simply excellent book on the subject of time. I recommend the read to my higher-level learning colleagues, and my philosophical counterparts. Much of the book inspires a wide range of future research topics, as well as implications for application in daily life. Nice flow, and solid content. Much obliged to the author.

No offense meant to Stephen Hawking. But this book details time in so many different ways that its just breathtaking (and beautiful).The philosophy and psychology section of the book changed my life. Must read for anyone.

Who knew biology played such an important role in how people perceive time? Exploring this aspect of "life's scarcest commodity" is "The Secret Pulse of Time" by Stefan Klein.Working in an industry that frequently uses "the future" to sell ideas, it's a bit shocking to learn that it's not until we're four years old that we understand what a "day" means, and not 'til we're 13 that we can easily use terms like "earlier" and "later."The degree to which our bodies keep time borderlines on freaky. Whether you're reading this now or not, chances are you were born at 4am. And that you'll die at 5am. (Hey, file your complaints with Stefan, not me.) But as in tune with the universe as we are, our minds don't have access to the fine watch-like movements our cells follow.Ever notice how a trip to someplace new seems to take longer than the trip back? Klein says it's because experiences that are dense with novelty and data and require a lot of focus feel like they take longer. On the return trip you've already taken in much of the new information and your mind doesn't process the experience as lengthy. "When the brain separates out an experience to store it, it registers places, colors, shapes, feelings, sounds, smells, and taste. But time is not coded," says Klein. "Beautiful moments are fundamentally too brief, and unpleasant occasions never seem to end.." Poetic. Then he says caffeine also makes time feel like it's going by faster.Other interesting finds in the book:*Westerners think of the future as what's literally ahead of them, with the past pressing into their back. But this isn't a hard wired intuition. The Aymara tribe of the Andes think the future is behind them because it's impossible to see, and the past is in front of them because it has already been viewed. Klein says that they tend not to speculate about the future because it can't be seen.*On a moment-by-moment basis, people generally thinking about either the past or the future, not the present.*Thinking about the past changes one's memory about the past. (That's right Heisenberg fans). Klein says that memories can be reframed, which is why the "good old days" phenomenon exists.Marketers and anyone curious about what literally makes us tick will find a lot to like in this book.