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Why does it seem that people feel more pressure with a clock counting down as opposed to counting up? Is there a specific term for this? Maybe counting down signifies some sort of loss whereas counting up signifies some sort of gain?

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  • $\begingroup$ Is it really the case that counting down creates more pressure? Is there any evidence? $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 7, 2013 at 13:23
  • $\begingroup$ I would assume this is logical, because a clock counting down means a deadline. When it runs out, time's up. A clock counting up does not imply this necessarily. $\endgroup$
    – Josh
    Commented Aug 16, 2013 at 4:13
  • $\begingroup$ My guess is the following: It's much easier to get a grasp of how many time is left on the clock that runs down. You have less calculations to do to know if you're gonna make it in time. And as Josh says, there is the idea of 'losing' a resource when it runs down as opposed to accumulating it. $\endgroup$
    – icosamuel
    Commented Feb 19, 2014 at 18:38
  • $\begingroup$ And it might be linked to the way we describe the "half-full" or "half-empty" water glass. Take a look at this TED talk. $\endgroup$
    – icosamuel
    Commented Feb 26, 2014 at 15:24
  • $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because based an assumption the OP has offered no evidence of. $\endgroup$
    – user10932
    Commented Jul 30, 2017 at 10:24

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