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Reply	Tony Sandy says: It's as someone else suggested - the object or visual field 'appears stationary until it reaches you/ you reach it at which point it goes from being distant, to close, to behind you instantly. It is this 'disappearance' that makes it seem faster than anything approaching as what has passed becomes invisible to the mind: It's a question of tracking and what you're focused on suddenly going behind you - a trick of the mind and perception in other words (Happens with events too - The Christmas and small boys effect).  (no votes) Tags: animals, transport.
	posted on 2009-01-22 16:06:00 | Report abuse

Reply	dsysko says: What I remember from childhood car trips at night was watching the full moon when it happened to be near the horizon. In the context of this discussion, it was the 'slowest' of objects in the field of view. However, (interestingly) a shift in perception imparted speed to the moon, as it could keep up with the moving car. Our question was then, "How does the moon know how to travel with the car?"  (no votes) Tags: animals, transport.
	posted on 2009-01-23 12:00:00 | Report abuse

Reply	alfredo_tomato says: Write down those unanswered questions and save them. As he gets older, show him the questions and see if he knows the answers or can find them himself. Do it as part of a birthday tradition.  (no votes) Tags: animals, transport.
	posted on 2009-01-27 16:43:00 | Report abuse

Reply	zav says: It's all about your field of vision. You can fit less distance of things within your field of vision when they are up close and you can fit more items in when they are farther away. Something up close moves by fast because from your eyes to that item, you are seeing less stuff in that area than if you were looking off in the distance. In the distance, you might be looking at a mile of things. But you are still traveling at the same speed. Because you see less stuff in your field of vision that is up closer, it appears to move by faster as you travel over a fixed rate of speed. You're still traveling n miles an hour but smaller chunks of the distance you are traverse fit in your sight when looking at things up close. Therefore, you need more of them to pass by in the same amount of time, so you perceive lots of small chunks of vision passing by instead of one large chunk moving slowly past. Or something like that.  (no votes) Tags: animals, transport.
	posted on 2009-02-17 02:29:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Mick says: I thought about this when I was younger, and the way I eventually explained to myself why it happened whas this - If you had a really long tube and looked down it, the things far away would appear to be going just as fast as the things close up. They only look slower because you see them for longer.  (no votes) Tags: animals, transport.
	posted on 2009-03-03 23:50:00 | Report abuse

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