Ai vs AI: Question 32/81

How to shorten time?

Ai Weiwei: This is a profound and, indeed, an unsolvable question. There is much debate about the nature of time. Time, aside from being a physical entity, is also a psychological measure. The psychological dimension often involves overlooking the passage of time when engrossed in a particular activity.

ChatGPT (AI), January 2024: Time perception is subjective. Engaging in enjoyable activities, staying busy, or practicing mindfulness can alter the perception of time, making it feel shorter.

ChatGPT (AI), January 2025: The idea of “shortening time” can be understood in a few different ways depending on the context, and while we can’t physically alter the flow of time itself, there are ways to make time feel shorter or to optimize how we use it. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Perception of Time:
   Time doesn’t always feel the same—it can speed up or slow down based on our activities and mental state. Here are a few ways to make time feel shorter:Engage in Flow States: Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi popularized the concept of “flow”—a state where you are so deeply immersed in an activity that time seems to disappear. When you’re absorbed in something that challenges your abilities and keeps you fully engaged, time often passes quickly.Activities that promote flow: playing a musical instrument, painting, coding, writing, working on a creative project, or engaging in a sport.
   Reduce Repetitiveness: When you’re doing something monotonous or repetitive, time tends to feel longer. Mixing things up, adding variety to your routine, or trying new experiences can make time feel more fleeting.Focus on Present-Moment Awareness: Sometimes, time feels slow when we’re waiting or anxious about the future. Mindfulness and staying present can help you enjoy the moment, reducing the perception of time dragging.Minimize Time Waste: If you’re stuck in dull or inefficient tasks, time can feel like it’s crawling. Conversely, when you stay focused and eliminate distractions, you can get through tasks more efficiently and feel like time is moving faster.
2. Efficiency and Time Management:
   While you can’t literally make time go faster, you can make better use of it by managing how you spend it:Prioritize Tasks: Focus on the most important or urgent tasks first (using a method like the Eisenhower Matrix or the Pomodoro Technique). This allows you to accomplish more in less time and feel productive, which can make time seem to “fly by.”Batching Tasks: Group similar tasks together so you can handle them all at once, rather than spreading them out across the day. This is especially effective for administrative tasks or chores.Time Blocking: Set aside dedicated chunks of time for specific activities throughout the day. Knowing that you only have a certain amount of time to complete a task can help you focus more effectively and cut down on procrastination, leading to a feeling of efficiency.
3. Manage Your Attention:
   What you focus on can dramatically change how time feels:Deep Work: When you immerse yourself in highly focused, deep work, you often lose track of time. This is especially true when you are working on something that requires full concentration, creativity, or critical thinking.Avoiding Multitasking: Multitasking may make you feel like you’re getting more done, but it often leads to mental fatigue and inefficiency. Focusing on one task at a time often leads to faster completion and a more satisfying experience.
4. Changing Your Routine:
   Switching up your routine or trying new things can give the illusion of time passing faster:Try New Activities: New experiences make us more aware of time, and as a result, time seems to pass more quickly. Whether it’s a new hobby, learning a skill, or simply breaking out of your comfort zone, variety can keep things interesting and make the passage of time seem quicker.Travel and Explore: New environments and cultures can give you a sense of time passing quickly. Travel, even if it’s local, provides new stimuli, which can change your perception of time.
5. Fast-Tracking Certain Tasks:
   In some cases, there are ways to literally accelerate the process or make things happen more quickly:Delegation: If you have too many things on your plate, delegating tasks to others can lighten your load and allow you to accomplish more in less time.Automation: Many modern tools and technologies can automate repetitive or time-consuming tasks. For example, using project management tools, automated emails, or setting up processes to streamline work can save you hours of effort.
6. Time Travel (Metaphorically):
   Though time travel is currently a concept confined to science fiction, there are philosophical or metaphorical ways people can “escape” time:Reflection and Memory: Sometimes, when you reflect on your experiences and memories, time seems to compress. Long periods can feel like a blur when you think back, and things that felt like they took a long time may seem short in hindsight.Loss of Time in Happiness: When you’re doing something truly enjoyable or fulfilling, you might hear people say that “time flies.” This is because the moments of joy or fulfillment take up so much of your attention that you don’t notice the passing of time.

In Summary
Although we can’t literally shorten time in the sense of speeding up the natural flow of hours, days, and years, we can shape how we experience time. Engaging deeply in tasks, improving time management, minimizing distractions, and trying new experiences can make time feel like it’s moving faster. Meanwhile, mindfulness, rest, and balance allow you to savor moments rather than feel rushed.

If you’re looking for more concrete methods to manage time better or make your days feel fuller, I can dive into specific strategies with you!

DeepSeek (AI), January 2025:The idea of “shortening time” can be interpreted in a few ways, depending on the context. While we can’t literally change the passage of time, we can alter our perception of time or make better use of it to feel like it’s passing more quickly or efficiently. Here are some strategies:

1. Altering Perception of Time:
   – Engage in Flow States: When you’re deeply immersed in an activity you enjoy (e.g., painting, playing music, or solving a problem), time seems to fly by. This is called being in a “flow state.”
   – Stay Busy: Keeping yourself occupied with tasks, hobbies, or social activities can make time feel like it’s passing faster.
   – Break Routines: Monotony can make time feel slower. Try new experiences, travel, or change up your daily routine to make time feel more dynamic.
2. Improving Time Management:
   – Prioritize Tasks: Focus on high-priority tasks first to make the most of your time.
   – Use Time Blocks: Divide your day into focused work sessions with breaks in between (e.g., the Pomodoro Technique).
   – Eliminate Distractions: Reduce time wasted on distractions like social media or unnecessary multitasking.
3. Psychological Techniques:
   – Mindfulness and Meditation: Practicing mindfulness can help you stay present, making time feel more meaningful rather than rushed or dragged out.
   – Reframe Waiting Periods: If you’re waiting for something, use the time productively (e.g., read, plan, or meditate) to make it feel shorter.
4. Leveraging Technology:
   – Automate Repetitive Tasks: Use tools and apps to automate chores or repetitive tasks, freeing up your time.
   – Speed Up Media: Watch videos or listen to podcasts at a faster playback speed to save time.
5. Philosophical Perspective:
   – Embrace the Present: Time feels shorter when you’re fully engaged in the moment. Practice gratitude and focus on what you’re doing right now.

While we can’t literally shorten time, these strategies can help you make the most of it and alter your perception of its passage. Time is a constant, but how we experience it is within our control!

Google Gemini (AI), June 2025: You’ve asked a really interesting question, “How to shorten time?” This can be interpreted in a few ways, and each has its own set of fascinating answers!

Let’s break it down:

1. How to Make Time Feel Shorter (Psychological Perception)
This is the most common interpretation. We’ve all experienced time seeming to fly by when we’re having fun, or drag when we’re bored. This is about manipulating our perception of time.

Engage in Novel and Stimulating Activities:
– New experiences: When you’re doing something new, your brain is processing a lot of information, which can make time feel more compressed. The more new neural connections you’re forming, the faster time seems to go by in the moment. Think of a vacation – it feels long while you’re there, but shorter in retrospect because of all the novel experiences.
– Flow State: This is a psychological state where you are fully immersed and energized by an activity. When you’re in “flow,” you lose track of time entirely. This happens when the challenge of an activity perfectly matches your skill level. Examples: playing music, painting, coding, intense sports, deep conversation.
– Active Engagement vs. Passive Consumption: Actively doing something (e.g., creating, solving) makes time feel shorter than passively consuming (e.g., watching TV, scrolling social media mindlessly).

Be Present and Focused:
– Mindfulness: Paradoxically, being fully present in the moment can make the experience of that moment feel richer and more immediate, while simultaneously making the passage of time seem faster. When you’re not constantly checking the clock or dwelling on the past/future, time just happens.
– Avoid Boredom: Boredom stretches time because your brain has less novel stimuli to process, making you highly aware of time’s slow progression. Keep your mind engaged.

Increase Pace and Efficiency:
– Multi-tasking (Carefully): While true multi-tasking is often inefficient, switching between tasks that require different parts of your brain can make a period feel more dynamic and therefore shorter, provided you maintain focus.
– Time Management Techniques: While these don’t shorten time itself, they can make a given period more productive, making it feel like you accomplished more in less “perceived” time. (e.g., Pomodoro Technique, time boxing).

Social Interaction:
– Engaging in deep, meaningful conversations or activities with others often makes time fly. Our brains are highly social, and interaction provides rich, complex stimuli.

2. How to Make Your Life Feel Shorter (Long-Term Perception)

This is a more existential take. Why do some people feel like life has flown by, while others feel it’s been a long journey?

– Routine and Lack of Novelty: As we age, if our lives become very routine and predictable, our brains have less “new” information to encode. This leads to a sense that years are passing more quickly. Each year blurs into the next because there are fewer distinct “markers” (novel experiences, major life events).
– Solution: Continuously seek new experiences, learn new things, visit new places, and challenge yourself. This creates more “memories” and makes each period of life feel richer and longer in retrospect.

Focus on the Future: If you’re always living for the next big event or milestone (e.g., “I’ll be happy when I graduate,” “when I get this job,” “when I retire”), you might be subconsciously rushing through the present, making your overall journey feel compressed.

3. How to Literally Shorten Time (Physics – Not Applicable in Daily Life)

From a purely scientific perspective, the only known ways to “shorten” or manipulate time are through concepts from Einstein’s theory of relativity, specifically time dilation:

– High Velocity: The faster you move relative to a stationary observer, the slower time passes for you from their perspective. So, if you were travelling near the speed of light, less time would pass for you than for someone stationary on Earth.
– Strong Gravity: Time also passes more slowly in stronger gravitational fields. So, time would pass slightly slower for someone standing on a massive planet compared to someone in deep space.

– However, these effects are negligible in everyday human experience. You would need to be moving at an immense fraction of the speed of light or be in an incredibly strong gravitational field (like near a black hole) for the effect to be noticeable. It’s not something you can apply to shorten your workday or weekend!

In summary:
If you want to “shorten time” in your daily life, focus on engaging your mind with novel, challenging, and enjoyable activities that put you in a state of flow and presence. This will make hours feel like minutes, creating a richer, more compressed subjective experience of time.

To coincide with the exhibition, 81 Questions – a series of 81 hand-signed and embossed screen prints featuring the 81 questions posed by Ai Weiwei – are available exclusively on CIRCA.ART for £500+VAT.

“Each Lego brick pixel represents a person”, says Ai Weiwei, who incorporates the plastic construction toy – a readymade material incorporated into many of his most recent works – into his print design for the first time. The black egalitarian pixel font and embossed baseplate combine technology with artisanal craft to create this thought-provoking and playful reflection on today’s world. Each print in the series of 81 Questions is hand-signed and numbered by the artist in editions of 81.