Science is Fun Fridays!
Or maybe not fun if you don't think 500 days of isolation inside a cave sounds like a good time.
Beatriz Flamini emerged on April 14, 2023 - she documented her experience to help scientists understand the effects of extreme isolation, but her initial reaction to her support team arriving said a lot in itself.
She thought she had only been there for about 170 days.
Obviously day and night helps shape our perception of the passage of time, so without that, one must rely on psychological processes. In our usual routines, we can turn to the number of memories formed as an index for how much time has passed.
But Flamini was also lacking social interaction and information about the world. She had no set schedule and as the biological rhythms of sleep, thirst and digestion took over, she simply paid less attention. We also tend to gauge time by productivity, and while she did get some writing for her book done, there were no appointments or deadlines.
It makes a difference that she went in by choice, of course. Being forced into isolation is not generally such a pleasant experience, and most people actually obsess about time in those cases, making it seem to last even longer.
It will also depend on your personality. The article refers to an "internal locus of control," which sources to a Personality and Personal Values study. Basically, you need to be calm, composed, and comfortable being absorbed in your own thoughts.
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