Our progenitors were survivors. Survival hinged on their capacity to shift into high-velocity processing speeds, leading to that extra burst of action which could dodge dire circumstances. These ancient physiological systems remain our allies. Joining forces with other circuits added later, they are still capable of creating in modern brains the impression that time expands, in the clarity of a fearless present. The person senses “more” seconds, more time for making those skillful last-ditch efforts to escape.

From James H. Austin’s Zen and the Brain, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999 (first published in 1998), p. 451.