NB:Thisisnotaword-for-wordtranscript
6MinuteEnglish
BritishBroadcastingCorporation2016
Page1of5
Alice
Helloandwelcometo6MinuteEnglish.I'mAlice…Neil
AndI'mNeil.Didyouhaveagoodweekend,Alice
Yes,butitflewby–whichmeansitwentquickly–andhereweareagain,backatwork!Neil
Hm.Iknowwhatyoumean.ThoughImustsay,timereallydraggedforme–andthatmeansitwentslowly.Iwasonatrain,whichbrokedown.
AliceOhdear!Neil
Anditfeltlikeittookforevertoarrive–thoughactuallyitwasonlydelayedonlybyonehour.
Well,todaywe'retalkingaboutourperceptionof–orthewaywesee–time.It'struethatwhenwe'rebusydoinglotsofthings,timefliesby.Neil
Andwhenwe'reboredorhavenothingtodo,itdrags.AndIdidn'thaveanythingtodoonthetrain.Doyouthinktimeflowsatthesamerateforeveryone–evenanimalsMycatdoesn'tgetboreddoingnothingallday.Iwonderiftimedragsforhersometimes
Goodquestion!Didyouknow,Neil,that,accordingtoanewstudy,smalleranimalsperceivetimeasifitispassinginslowmotionNeil
Thatsoundsweird.Doyouthinktheyhearuslikethis:t…a…l…k…i…n…gs…l…o…w…l…y…
Don'tbesilly,Neil!WhatImeantwasthatsmallanimalssuchasinsectsandsmallbirdscanobservemoredetailinacertainperiodoftime–forexample,asecond–thanlargeranimals.
Neil
Andhowdoesthishelpthem,exactlyItsoundslikethedaywouldreallydragifeverysecondgotstretchedoutlikethat!
Ithelpsthembygivingthemtimetoescapelargerpredators.Now,Ihaveaquestionforyou,Neil.Canyoutellmeroughlyhowmuchmorequicklyafly'seyecanreactthanahumaneyeIsit…
a)twiceasquickly
b)fourtimesasquickly
Orc)tentimesasquickly
Well,I'llgoforc)tentimes.Fliesareprettynippy–andthat'sanotherwordforquick.Alice
Yes.Well,we'llfindoutlateronifyougottheanswerrightornot.Now,smallanimalscantypicallyprocessmorevisualinformationthanwecan.Butinadangeroussituationourbrainscanworkinoverdrivetoprocessinformationmorequickly.Andoverdrivemeansastateofextremeactivity.Let'slistentoRazaRumi,awriterandbroadcasterinPakistan,talkingabouttheunusualwayhisbrainworkedwhengunmenopenedfireonhiminhiscar.INSERT
RazaRumi,writerandbroadcaster,Pakistan
Itlastedforafewminutes–buttomethatparticularincidentfeelslikeitwasforhours.Ithinkmybrainwasworkinginaverystrangeway.Parallelandmultiplethoughtsandstreamsofconsciousnessweresortofrunningalong:'IhavetosavemyheadbecauseifIgetabulletinmybrainI'mdead.'Andatthesametime,'Wasitallworthit'And,'Alas,whatashortlifeitwas,itwaslovely.'IwaspetrifiedthatIwasgoingtodie.
RazaRumithere.So,hewaspetrifiedbytheattack–whichmeansextremelyfrightened.Asaresult,hisbrainstartedworkinginastrangeway.Hewasthinkingandfeelinglotsofdifferentthingsatthesametime.