How can I be pretty inaccurate telling what time it is without a clock, but I frequently wake up just a couple minutes before my alarm?

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If I was randomly asked what time it is, I wouldn’t be very accurate without looking at a clock. Likewise, if I was asked to guess when the clock hits exactly 8pm, I would be pretty far off. Yet I very frequently wake 2-3 minutes before my alarm goes off. How can my passed out brain be such an accurate time keeper?

In: Biology

11 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There are two different ways your body tells time:

By counting

And by your body’s natural cycle (called circadian rhythm)

When estimating what time it is right now, your mind searches for the last “time stamp” and tries to count forward to present.

When you wake up just before your alarm, it’s because your body’s muscle memory (circadian rhythm) is in tune with your alarm and raising whatever chemicals in your body help you wake up. You wake up 1-2 minutes

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