Children and Helical Time

Perception of Time & Novelty

• Many tie time dilation to novelty: routine days get “compressed” in memory, while change, volatility, and learning make periods feel long.
• Several report their 20s–30s as the “longest” or richest decade due to moves, career changes, relationships, and travel, contradicting the idea that childhood dominates subjective life.
• Others recall childhood days as endless, especially when waiting or bored, consistent with the article’s framing.
• Some suggest alternative mechanisms: memory compression, brain plasticity, formation of a stable self-image, or an innate “one lifetime” quota of subjective time regardless of chronological length.
• Distinction is made between time in the moment (pain/boredom feels slow, joy fast) vs time in hindsight (novel periods feel longer, routines disappear).

Work, Routine, and Lifestyle

• Many blame compressed adult time on repetitive work, commutes, screens, and sleep deprivation; life becomes a blur of near-identical days.
• Art, self-directed projects, or unstable careers feel much longer and richer than salaried software work.
• Slow travel and meaningful projects are contrasted with tourism and backpacking, which some find forgettable; others strongly disagree and find travel deeply memorable, especially when unscheduled and shared.

Childhood vs Adulthood Vibrancy

• Several commenters reject the claim that childhood memories are uniquely intense; they report far more vivid, transformative experiences in adulthood.
• Others had childhoods largely erased by trauma or poverty; their “real” life starts in adolescence or early adulthood.
• A minority resonate strongly with the article’s view that childhood is half of subjective life and see adulthood as more blended and blocky.

Children, Parenting, and “Helical Time”

• Some like the idea of “creating childhoods” and reliving firsts through kids; it motivates them to invest in their children’s experiences.
• Critics argue the author has ceded their own adult life and over-identifies meaning with kids and holidays; they see this as risky when children grow up.
• Experiences of parenting vary sharply: from rich, joyful and time-dense to mostly stressful and monotonous, with brief moments of magic.

Agency, Novelty, and How to Live

• Proposed strategies: change routines, move cities, start over in new domains, pick demanding hobbies, or simply cultivate presence and curiosity.
• Disagreement remains on whether novelty is necessary; some say staying curious is enough, others emphasize deliberate “curve balls” to avoid stagnation.