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I do have the ability to estimate the time within 5 minutes, provided I've seen a clock in the last hour. You might notice your that your ability to predict lessons the further you get from a reference point. I think it does from from incessant time watching, but I do feel like I get the time right on most times. Like above, I can set the microwave and get back within 15 seconds of the end time.
It's just like the laws of estimation when you're talking about engineers. If you ask them to estimate the time to complete a project in months, they'll generally be right to the nearest week. If you ask them in weeks, they'll generally be right to the nearest day. If you ask them in days, they might be right to the nearest half day.
If I've seen a clock within an hour or two, I can get the minute of the current hour damn near dead-on. If I've seen a clock only once or twice that day, I can get the hour, but usually not the minutes.
Likewise, I noticed that there are a great many things that we subconciously use for that prediction. I just spent half a week in Vegas, and when you're inside the Casinos, its incredibly difficult to predict the time. There is a steady flow of people in and now, so you can't guess whether it's late or early by people leaving or entering, there are no natural light references so you can't even really tell if it's night or day, and there is enough noise and artificial light that you can't really predict the hour either. It's quite amazing. Likewise, they deliberately don't hang clocks, because they know this and they want you to say there as long as possible spending all your monies.
Also, I don't wear a watch. I don't consider it a fashion statement, and none of my professional superiors (or role models) wear watches daily. Their attire is nice, and very businesslike, but they aren't wearing watches. I honestly think it is on the way out, particularly among those in high technology. During my day I walk from my bedroom, to my kitchen which has a clock, get in my car which has a clock, walk from my car to work with a clock on my phone, get to my computer and phone, which each have clocks on them.
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"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel
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