Time Expansion Experiences

Part of my breakfast reading is Oneness with All Life by Eckhart Tolle, and this morning I read the following sentence: ‘The elimination of time from your consciousness is the elimination of ego’ – very much corresponding with the thesis of this fascinating study in the psychology of time perception and the illusion of linear time. Steve coins the new term Time Expansion Experience (TEE) to characterise instances where time appears to expand by many orders of magnitude. His coverage ranges over a number of important themes after his initial overview: time expansion in accidents and emergencies, in sport, and in awakening experiences; then deep time and near death experiences, with a separate chapter on the life review; the final chapters provide some explanatory discussion in relation to altered states of consciousness, precognition and retrocognition, perspectives from physics, and transcending time by softening the self-boundary – just what Tolle is referring to above. The text is brought alive by many personal accounts derived from Steve’s research.

As is often the case, academic consideration of such experiences originates in William James, who examined a number of aspects of our time perception. Steve offers four laws of psychological time: time seems to speed up as we get older; time seems to go slowly when we’re exposed to new environments and experiences; time seems to speed up in states of absorption; and time passes very slowly in intense altered states of consciousness, when our normal psychological structures and processes are significantly disrupted, and our normal “self-system” dissolves. The slowing of time in relation to sudden accidents might well have an evolutionary purpose, and examples demonstrate our capacity for thought and agency even in microseconds. Examples of athletes in the zone include Formula One drivers and the cricketer Sir Donald Bradman. Aldous Huxley provides the context for a discussion in relation to psychedelics, and the extensive coverage of NDEs includes flashforwards and life previews.

Throughout, Steve discusses sceptical perspectives, which I agree do not do full justice to the phenomena. I think he is right to emphasise the central role of altered states and transcendence of boundaries. A key implication is that our linear experience of time is a construct produced by the strong boundary of our normal self-system. (p. 149) There is a helpful summary in the final chapter, along with a discussion of free will and probability, as well as practical techniques such as meditation and slow living to modify our time perception. A very informative and innovative contribution.