The Meaning of Time in a Digitized World

 How we experience the passage of time really depends on the intensity and quality of our focus, and how quickly or slowly it shifts from one subject to another. Emotions we experience during a particular timeframe count because based on them we can perceive time as something dreadfully slow or something that we do not even notice. When we perform something repetitive and mechanical that doesn't require a complex thought process, we feel that time is still, but we can't wait to get over it and move on to something more exciting and sensational. Another way to experience time is not to think of it at all: it happens naturally when we are fully immersed in the process and engaged with it completely with our mind, body, and soul. In such cases, the time goes by swiftly.

However, when we look back, the aftertaste of such experiences is felt in a reversed way. The series of dull and mechanical activities that may accumulate over several years feel so insignificant that they are perceived as a few months and the motivation to do something interesting and more engaging in the near future still persists. On the other hand, the accumulation of complex, exciting, and fulfilling activities, even if they were all accomplished within a month, may feel as if they lasted for a significant time period because of how rich in quality and satisfaction this whole experience has been.

Nowadays many of our activities involve digital spaces - their range is vast and diverse, and they may include something dull and repetitive, such as data entry, or, on the contrary, something that requires a higher cognitive effort, such as programming or drafting. 

Another dimension that may be played out independently or represent a part of some other cognitive process is creativity. A painter spends hours and days in his studio, working on a masterpiece, immersed in a creative flow that elevates his existence above time, gravitational forces, and an earthy sense of being. Some magic happens within the boundaries of that physical space. When such creative forces are extended onto the digital interface, do they persist in their quality even though the tools that are used to express that creativity aren't organic but artificial? It may be the case because when an artist continues to be fully and undividedly immersed in the flow regardless of the chosen medium, it suggests that this unique dimension, which is above time and space, is still available to him.