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  • - You may not know this,

  • but there are actually only two ways

  • that us English-speaking humans perceive time.

  • So I'm gonna ask you a question right now

  • so you can find out which one you are.

  • If I tell you that Wednesday's noon meeting

  • has been moved forward by two hours,

  • do you now think that it's at 2:00 p.m. or at 10:00 a.m.?

  • If you think the meeting is now at 2:00 p.m.,

  • this means you have the ego-moving perception of time.

  • You see yourself as moving forward through time.

  • If you think that the meeting's now at 10:00 a.m.,

  • this means you have the time-moving perception of time.

  • You think that you are stagnant

  • or static and time is flowing through you

  • as if you are standing in a stream

  • and time is the water.

  • Here's a visual representation of what I mean.

  • Ego-moving perspective, those who chose 2:00 p.m.,

  • they see themselves as moving forward through time.

  • Time-moving perspective, those who chose 10:00 a.m.,

  • see themselves as static,

  • with time moving forward through them.

  • You may think that your answer is the obvious one.

  • I obviously think the meeting is at 2:00 p.m.,

  • and I can't think of how anyone could see it any other way,

  • but when I talked to Mitch about this,

  • he thought it was 10:00 a.m., and then we realized,

  • that we see the world completely differently.

  • - So I'm here to represent all of the 10:00 a.m. people

  • who have the correct answer.

  • - And I'm here for 2:00 p.m.

  • I don't really think there's a correct,

  • right or wrong answer.

  • I'm here to just defend them.

  • I think we can be fluid with our perception of time.

  • - In English, we call these perceptions fictive motion.

  • The metaphorical movement of an object through space.

  • There technically is another way that English speakers

  • can reference time that has nothing to do with our egos,

  • and that's called the time reference point.

  • So if you think about seasons,

  • you would say winter comes before spring.

  • In that sense, time isn't perceived in reference to us.

  • Greg posted this question on TikTok,

  • and it was wild to see how split it was.

  • People unable to comprehend

  • how other people can see it the other way

  • and really seeing like 10,000 votes on 2:00 p.m.,

  • and 10,000 votes on 10:00 a.m.

  • - People were reacting

  • and even just immediately,

  • when I first saw someone say, "Oh, it's 10:00 a.m."

  • I was like, "Duh what?"

  • And I think that is fascinating,

  • it's an English language issue in many ways.

  • I don't think we're ever gonna be able to explain or agree.

  • - Metaphors are important

  • because they bridge people's language and thoughts.

  • But this all has to do with the English language.

  • The indigenous people of Aymara have a language

  • where they construe the past as in front of them

  • and the future behind them.

  • Speakers gesture to the front

  • when they're talkin' about the past

  • and to the back when they're talkin' about the future.

  • But to be honest, lots of different languages

  • perceive times in different ways

  • and maybe don't even have this issue

  • because their language is much more direct.

  • It honestly reminds me of Yanny and Laurel.

  • - [Man] Laurel.

  • - In the fact that it must be just ambiguous enough

  • and falling just in the space between it could be either/or,

  • with enough context, with maybe one more word,

  • everyone could be on the same page.

  • But because of the way it's positioned,

  • like the Yanny, Laurel, or the dress,

  • it's because of the lighting,

  • it's because of subtle differences that leave it

  • just in this weird zone,

  • that your brain has to sort of make a decision.

  • - But that's an illusion, I don't-

  • - I think this is sort of an illusion.

  • - Time is an illusion.

  • - Time is an illusion.

  • - Oh my God.

  • This research is fascinating because it makes you realize

  • that although time is objectively measured,

  • it's subjectively understood.

  • Studies have also found

  • that we actually switch our perspectives

  • depending on which event we're talking about.

  • For example, a wedding, something you're looking forward to,

  • people are more likely

  • to switch to the ego-moving perspective.

  • Whereas, if something's coming up that they dread,

  • like a job interview that they're nervous about,

  • they start to then become time-moving perspective

  • as they fear and almost wanna keep that thing

  • that keeps getting closer and closer, away from them.

  • But we still also have to grapple with the fact

  • that I might think, you might think the holidays are coming,

  • whereas I'm excited to get to the holidays.

  • Like fundamentally, I think of myself

  • as moving through time, whereas okay,

  • do you think the holidays are coming to you,

  • or do you think that you are excited to get to them?

  • - A bit of both, but I guess in general,

  • I feel that they are coming, yes.

  • - And I think that we're gonna get to them.

  • - You're trying to say that this isn't illusion

  • because there's some fundamental, underlying principle

  • that separates people- - of language.

  • - That separates people into two groups.

  • - And linguistics, yeah.

  • - But what I'm saying is that many illusions,

  • the reason, like a Yanny, Laurel or the dress,

  • where people split into two categories,

  • there probably is some underlying,

  • fundamental perception of life, or visual perception,

  • or auditory perception that puts people into two groups.

  • - Okay so you think the dissimilarity

  • is like the language version.

  • Oh my God. - I think so.

  • - When you start to ask people about which one they are,

  • you might even learn a bit about their personality

  • because they did personality tests on people

  • with different time perceptions.

  • And they found, that people who felt like

  • they had personal agency,

  • who actually felt like their life mattered,

  • were more likely to have the ego-moving perspective,

  • to see themselves again, moving forward through time.

  • Whereas other people, who through a personality test

  • were seen to be more fatalistic,

  • which means that they thought events were inevitable,

  • or pre-determined, were more likely to have

  • the time-moving perspective of time.

  • - And it feels like you're lying to me.

  • - Yeah, and it is interesting,

  • because they have done studies where people

  • have just gotten off airplanes

  • and they're more likely to have the ego-moving perspective.

  • So they've just moved viscerally through space

  • and therefore they're more likely to now say,

  • that they are moving through time.

  • It's like you can actually

  • change people's perception,

  • which does make me think of more of an illusion.

  • - So a plane is like building context around something.

  • I've just moved, so now my brain is actually thinking of it

  • in a way that context around like what time is,

  • is maybe kinda broken down.

  • - Yeah, they did the same study

  • where people were moving on a train,

  • and they were more likely to do an ego-moving perspective.

  • Wow, okay, (sighs) well I'm right.

  • (Mitch laughs)

  • Show this to your family and friends

  • and find out where they're at.

  • Find out if you perceive time

  • differently than your loved ones.

  • - Please let us know.

  • I wanna see if it actually is split evenly, 50/50.

  • - No. - Or if way more people

  • see one than the other, because to me you're lying.

  • It's a true lie.

  • Everyone must see 10:00 a.m.

  • - And I'm so curious about other people's languages.

  • I wanna know if people think

  • this is just a ridiculous concept, I don't know.

  • - Thank you all for watching

  • and allowing us to destroy your friendships