this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Perception of time is your definition of consciousness?
Do you instead mean memory of autobiographical events ?
Patient H.M lost his ability to form new memories of his experiences. (Starting after a brain surgery removed part of his memory centers as a kid). Would that count as losing "consciousness"?
People with dementia also lose their ability to form new memories. Though the complete loss of this ability is after the disease has progressed to severe levels.
People with Korsokoff disease. Sometimes called "locked in time" is also a disorder where new memory is disrupted so the individual often has no understanding that many years have passed. But they also suffer from a loss of time. Possibly because the amnesia is so extreme and complete.
This is why I say that time perception is part of memory.
People with Korsokoff are often distressed when they see their aged face in a mirror. Because to them, they have aged 20 years without experiencing the passage of 20 years.
Would you say these people are not conscious ?
You get why even defining consciousness is not particularly easy.
But we can't develop explanations without a specific defined phenomenon that can be measured or identified in some way.
Nope. Just awareness that time passes. Memory is irrelevant.
How can you have awareness of time if you have no memory of 1 second ago?
Perception of time is part of memory that "now" is different than it was 1 second ago.
Time, as experienced by a human is a product of sensory processing and memory. Short term and working memory. There is bit of research on manipulating the perception of time by different tasks and events.
https://www.popsci.com/how-time-seems-to-stop/
It's the experience of change.
This is why the speed of time can be altered based on tasks and attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronostasis
Time , as defined by physics , is its own thing independent of an animal's perception of time.
Like how vision is from light. But light is not vision.
We do have a circadian rhythm. So do all animals.
This is an internal clock that regulates the body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_perception
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm
Likewise , basic small time tracking appears to be largely done by the brain stem, limbic system, but probably the cerebellum. But not the cortex (higher function brain regions)
It is generally believed "consciousness" is a process of the cortex as this is where complex cognitive tasks are done.
"Experiments have shown that rats can successfully estimate a time interval of approximately 40 seconds, despite having their cortex entirely removed.[25] This suggests that time estimation may be a low-level process.[26]"
There is also a human disorder where the loss of time estimate ability can occur. Not completely independent of memory disorders. Short term memory is impaired.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyschronometria
Yep. Like you said/contradicted yourself. You don't need memory to perceive time.
Two forms of time perception.
But my point was memory is impaired in all forms except the one only measuring tracking estimates. Because you won't have any higher brain function with a cortex removed so they can't evaluate autobiographical memory because it won't exist.
And making short time estimates is done by the brain stem.
Even with no cortex. Likely because circadian rhythm is somewhat controlled from brain stem.
No cortex makes one essentially brain dead in many ways. No language. No sensory processing. No vision hearing or touch perception. No internal thoughts. Nothing. (Look up "default mode network, and why internal thoughts won't exist without a cortex).
Brain stem mostly regulates things like heart beat and breathing.
I understand your point, and I consider it irrelevant. One of those fun side effects of having me define consciousness twice, and never contesting either definition directly....only indirectly implying that consciousness requires a human brain.