There is the famous saying “a stopped clock is right twice a day”. Exactly how far are these two times of the day? The answer is 12 hours. Now how long is 12 hours? Would the sun be at a slightly different angle? Perhaps a much larger angle? NO! Actually, you’ll be on the opposite time of the day. You may think 24 hours is a big time difference, not so much for 12 hours or six hours. As you know, one hour isn’t much, but it doesn’t take much to build upon to create a much larger difference.
Let’s say that it is 12:00 PM. Like always, time moves forward, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. You also can’t speed up time or slow down time either. Here’s how different the time of the day would be after these amount of times passed:
- 1 Hour – in regards to time of the day, one hour isn’t much. You’d practically be in the same time of the day once one hour has passed. Even if you are taken to a different time of the day (which is not the case for 12 PM), it still feels like the same time of the day. If the sun is completely gone after one hour from the evening, you’re still in the late evening or early night. If you’re transitioning to evening from afternoon, you’re still in the late afternoon. From 12 PM, it will be 1 PM, which is in the middle of the day. By observation of a round clock, the hour hand would be slightly rotated.
- 3 Hours – while much longer than one hour, you can still be in the same time of the day after three hours. But it’s not going to feel like you are in the same time of the day. Those in school may still be at school, and those at work may still be at work, depending on time of the day. For instance, three hours after early sunset will take you to the late sunset, showing that the sun has progressed much further as it sets. From 12 PM, it will be 3 PM, which is in the late afternoon. Still daytime, but much later. By observation of a round clock, the hour hand will be rotated by 90°.
- 6 Hours – after six hours, you’ll be in a different time of the day. You can go from daytime to nighttime, or nighttime to daytime. Even if it’s daytime to daytime or nighttime to nighttime, you’ll be in different parts of the day. Like if the change was still at night, six hours would transition you from a time when the sun is simply out of the sky to a time where hardly anyone is awake and when hardly any place is open. From 12 PM, it will be 6 PM, which is in the evening or early night, depending on time of the year. By observation of a round clock, the hour hand will be on the opposite side of the clock.
- 12 Hours – after twelve hours, you’ll be in the opposite time of the day. Early sunrise will be late sunset, day will be night, afternoon will be the darkest hours of the night, and dusk will be dawn. From 12 PM, it will be 12 AM, which is midnight. By observation of a round clock, the hour hand will be in the same position, but the looks of the outdoors show a big difference.
- 24 Hours – while 24 hours is a big difference, the time of the day is actually the same 24 hours later as it is now, and it’s the same now as it was 24 hours ago. The only difference is that you’ll be on a different day. Not enough days to show differences in the year, but at this scale, it’s long. If it was in the middle of Christmas Eve, you would’ve opened your presents by now.
Now imagine these time differences at a much greater magnitude. Not differences in the week. Not differences in a month. Not even differences within the same year. We’re looking at by ages. It is currently 2026, which is during a post-pandemic world, when Nintendo’s primary console is the Switch 2, when social media dominated life, and when AI is becoming more prominent. Whatever living situation you have now is what you have for 2026. Let’s look at how long each period of time is as I turn the clock back.
One Year Ago:
In terms of overall life, one year isn’t much of a change, for both local, personal life aspects and widescale aspects. While it’s true that a lot can change within one year, or one big change can happen within the same year, we’re still living like it was last year. Aside to stuff like loss of income, death of a family member, getting a new car, or moving to a new house (where it’s still hard to adjust one year later), whatever life was like one year ago is what it’s like today.
The world at the beginning of 2026 was still like the world at the beginning of 2025. However, all of the changes Trump made as president has diminished America’s reputation across the world. Given the tariffs, the global conflicts, the DOGE cuts, and the “Capitulation Culture”, it’s hard to see America in a positive light. Actually, it always has been, but the “we all make mistakes” excuse no longer works. Other than that, we still have been brought awareness to social issues, global warming has gotten worse, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok are still big social media hubs, and AI is a big deal.
In regards to Nintendo and everything in the Nintendo sphere, the Switch was the main Nintendo console, but the Nintendo Switch Era was on its way out. Some apps, like Alarmo and Nintendo Music, existed back then as they do today. But there’s no GameCube games for Nintendo Switch Online, Donkey Kong’s new, goofy design didn’t start appearing in games, and Nintendo has yet to raise the prices on their equipment.
Five Years Ago:
On a global scale, there may be some difference five years ago, but normally, changes aren’t too drastic. We may have different politicians, different laws, and different trends, but the world is still like what it was today. But at a more personal scale, five years ago is quite a long time. You may have gotten a new job or a new position in your job. You may be living in a different house and/or owning a different car. If you were a young adult in college, you might have been in high school or middle school five years ago, while those who were in either would most likely have been in elementary school. Some lost family members were still alive five years ago. If life hasn’t changed much within the last ten years, then maybe you should see how differently you live your life now compared to how you did years ago. You were probably interested into this one TV show, only for you to have outgrown it today.
From this year, five years ago would take us to the year 2021, which was during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Trump was on his way out, more restrictions (such as social distancing and mask mandates) had to be followed, vaccinations were still new, Twitter was called “Twitter” while Elon Musk still hasn’t bought Twitter, generative AI wasn’t a thing yet, and many restaurants and fast food chains still operated on limited menus. But some things that were true five years ago that are true today were the presence of social media in today’s lives (especially Facebook and TikTok), America was still deeply divided, COVID is still a threat, and stay-at-home work options have been embraced or appreciated. If we went back in time to five years ago on this day (1/4/2026), we wouldn’t have any memory of the Jan 6 Insurrection, or the winter storm that knocked out Texas’ power grid, or the Dobbs decision, or Desantis’s attacks on Disney. But we were still in the shadow of 2020.
In regards to Nintendo and everything in the Nintendo sphere, the Switch was the main Nintendo console. We still had Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokémon Sword/Shield, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But just showing you how different the Switch was now, we didn’t have Splatoon 3, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, or the Nintendo 64, Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance apps for Nintendo Switch Online (or even the Expansion Plan). We also didn’t have the Booster Pack to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or the 2.0 update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. On the bright side, while both the 3DS and Wii U were discontinued, for that they ended production, they were still being supported at this time. They both had internet access, the eShop, repair support, and other services that were eventually taken away as time went on.
Ten Years Ago:
We seen what it’s like to go back half a decade. Now let’s try going back a full decade. To both the global scale and personal scale, that’s like a completely different era. Whatever life was like 10 years ago is not the same as it was today. Just ask me, who was in his mid-20’s at the time, living in a larger house, going to college, and collecting amiibo cards to Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. Now, I’m in my mid-30’s, living in a smaller house, have a degree, and is working on BIONICLE collections (which is long-discontinued). And that’s still pretty short compared to what you’ll see in the next few sections.
From this year, ten years ago would take us to the year 2016, before Donald Trump became president. Primary social media sites were Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. The idea that there are more than two genders was laughable, as everyone were still boys or girls (though trans issues were hot-button issues back then). There was no Disney+, no HBO Max, no Paramount+, or any other streaming subscriptions like that (except for Netflix, which was more dominant). The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy has only one movie, superhero films dominated the highest grossing films, and buying movies digitally was more common than subscription services.
In regards to Nintendo and everything in the Nintendo sphere, this was not just before the Nintendo Switch came out, but also was under the codename NX. The failing Wii U was the primary Nintendo console, and the 3DS was the primary Nintendo handheld. At this time of the year, ten years ago, we didn’t even have Pokémon Sun/Moon (which was the first “modern” generation) or the Welcome amiibo update to Animal Crossing: New Leaf (which improved ACNL a lot). There was no Pokémon Go, no Nintendo movies or parks (not even the live-action Detective Pikachu film), and no other expansion to their brand. But we still had Animal Crossing and Zelda in Mario Kart, and both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask got an HD remake on a handheld system.
Fifteen Years Ago:
If you thought the world would been much different now than it was ten years ago, you haven’t seen what it’s like 15 years ago. We can agree that looking back 15 years would take you to a much different era, especially if you are under the age of 20. Unless if you were even older, elderly adults would be somewhere between 55 and 65, but some middle-aged people would been young adults, young adults would been teenagers or kids, and teenagers would been babies or not even born. Even at a global scale, 15 years would be in a different era.
From this year, fifteen years ago would take us to the year 2011, not just during the Obama years, but also when social media was starting to rise to significance. Sure that being in a pre-COVID world would make you feel nostalgic, but this is much longer than that. This was before LGBTQ+ people became more accepted, before the media took everything too seriously, and before the retail apocalypse. Also, the primary operating system to Microsoft was Windows 7. If anything is the same between now and 15 years ago, we still had iPhones, but even iPhones were a whole lot different too. They had classic designs, more niche mobile games (like these classic internet puzzles), and minimal features when they can do anything (for example, the weather app didn’t even show the sky or animations, just the current weather and what the weather will be in the next five days).
In regards to Nintendo and everything in the Nintendo sphere, it is true that the 3DS came out in 2011, but the Wii and DS were the primary Nintendo consoles. Actually, all of gaming were at the 7th generation of gaming (the age of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3). The internet was already integrated with video games, but games were a lot different then than they are today. For individual franchises alone, this was before the Fairy Type was introduced in Pokémon, and before Isabelle, one of the famous faces of Animal Crossing, even existed. Speaking of which, the first Animal Crossing game that allowed town design like what we have now was Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which didn’t even exist in 2011.
Twenty Years Ago:
Not only 20 years would take people to a different era, it would be a much different era. We would have different leaders, different technology, different lifestyles, and different trends. At an even larger scale, like culture, customs, architecture, and other basic facts, 20 years is not that long of a time. Maybe to a country that hasn’t existed that long, but changes aren’t as drastic to the overall life as they are to individuals, technology, and some norms.
From this year, twenty years ago would take us to the year 2006, back during the War in Iraq and before Facebook and Twitter became mainstream (if they existed). Between now and then, we still had internet, TVs, computers, video games, credit cards, LEDs, and rechargeable batteries. But we didn’t have smartphones, digital purchases, or internet-based subscription services. Cable TV and DVDs were more dominant back then, Windows XP was the primary operating system for Microsoft, the Great Recession hasn’t happened yet, and fax machines and pay phones were more prevalent.
In regards to Nintendo and everything in the Nintendo sphere, the GameCube was the primary Nintendo console, and the DS was the primary Nintendo handheld. We still have Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, and Animal Crossing, but they were a lot more different than they are today. Additionally, it was more common to release games to different countries at different times.
Twenty-Five Years Ago:
Still not enough? Let’s go back a lifetime, more specifically, 25 years ago. Being a quarter of a century, that’s nearly the equivalent of a lifetime. Several people alive weren’t even born back then, while those who were alive then were much younger than they are now. I’m one of the many people who was alive both today and 25 years ago. To an individual, you would be a lot different person back then than you are today. Technology would also be different. We would still have the basic bread and butter, but not the fillings or the special ingredients.
From this year, twenty-five years ago would take us to the year 2001. We would still have Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, SpongeBob, and Harry Potter. But at this time of the year, there was no 9/11 or anything that happened because of 9/11 (like TSA checkpoints and bans on going higher into the Statue of Liberty). We also didn’t have Windows XP, VHS was more common, Disney’s California Adventure Park has yet to open, and Wikipedia (a major site for information) hasn’t been launched. If there’s anything that hasn’t changed here in America, we still have 50 states, the states have the same capitals as they did 50 years ago, we still have 27 amendments ratified to the US Constitution, we still haven’t elected a female president in the US yet, and we still had the red state, blue state division (first used during the 2000 Election).
Wanna know how different Nintendo was back then? The Nintendo 64 was the primary Nintendo console. Online gaming was unthinkable at this time, at least for a Nintendo console. Let’s not forget that the Nintendo 64 was cartridge-based. Nowadays, you can play N64 games on the go, like in a car. The Gameboy Advance was the primary Nintendo handheld, but at this time, only two generations of Pokémon existed.
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