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Time is the only real currency we have

blog.theboringtech.io

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Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#11

Post by keiferski »

I’ve often wondered what society would look like if optimized for saving people time. Just some quick thoughts:

- Crosswalks and traffic lights would become non-existent and replaced with more pedestrian overpasses, turning/merging lanes, and other designs. Waiting for the light to change is a huge waste of time for both pedestrians and drivers. It seems like we might get this eventually with self-driving cars.

- Minimization of waiting rooms. If your appointment will be delayed, you’ll be informed of it ahead of time via SMS. Time slots are strictly enforced to avoid overlap.

- Purchase and checkout items while you shop, rather than waiting in line at a cash register. Or just skip shopping in person and order everything via delivery.

- Adoption of remote work and minimization of unnecessary commutes. Plus faster public transit in general. Japan is pretty good with this (the Shinkansen is impressive.)

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#13

Post by julienreszka »

naggreg wrote: post #4
julienreszka wrote: post #2

What about attention, attention is the real currency

Isn't that equivalent to giving time to someone?

No it is not. Put idiots in a Stanford class they won't be able to do much of the time given to them by Ivy League professor since they won't be able to pay attention

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#16

Post by naringas »

keiferski wrote: post #11

I’ve often wondered what society would look like if optimized for saving people time. Just some quick thoughts: - Crosswalks and traffic lights would become non-existent and replaced with more pedestrian overpasses, turning/merging lanes, and other designs. Waiting for the light to change is a huge waste of time for both pedestrians and drivers. It seems like we might get this eventually with self-driving cars. - Min…

there are many pedestrian overpasses in some big cities (like the one I live in)

but it's not so simple, because then you have to climb up stairs, which takes more time... you walk more steps

add some heavy duty sun and people rather wait in the shade down below rather than climb up.

Also pedestrian overpasses tend to be really narrow (read: uncomfortable)

Also, why should we be so stingy with time? it's better (IMHO) to lived relaxed, otherwise we will end up under conditions similar (they say) to amazon warehouse workers which have their bathroom breaks measured in seconds.

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#17

Post by m-p-3 »

keiferski wrote: post #11

I’ve often wondered what society would look like if optimized for saving people time. Just some quick thoughts: - Crosswalks and traffic lights would become non-existent and replaced with more pedestrian overpasses, turning/merging lanes, and other designs. Waiting for the light to change is a huge waste of time for both pedestrians and drivers. It seems like we might get this eventually with self-driving cars. - Min…

> Purchase and checkout items while you shop, rather than waiting in line at a cash register. Or just skip shopping in person and order everything via delivery.

I believe this is starting to happen in some places, example (and an interesting video on RFID tags in general)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QKrHi-G9WQ

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#18

Post by agumonkey »

keiferski wrote: post #11

I’ve often wondered what society would look like if optimized for saving people time. Just some quick thoughts: - Crosswalks and traffic lights would become non-existent and replaced with more pedestrian overpasses, turning/merging lanes, and other designs. Waiting for the light to change is a huge waste of time for both pedestrians and drivers. It seems like we might get this eventually with self-driving cars. - Min…

It could be an interesting experiment. I cannot stop but see time wasted everywhere, people using things that actually slow them down..

Also I believe our brain is very very much tailored to enjoy rapid resolutions.

Yet I still worry about overuse of the idea leading to more stress (faster faster faster).

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#19

Post by dlkf »

julienreszka wrote: post #2

What about attention, attention is the real currency

I think this is a very good point, and I find the reasons for which it is getting downvoted wholly unconvincing. Time is only good insofar as I have the mental/physical energy to take advantage of it. Lots of tasks double-dip in the time they take require from you - firstly when you perform them, and secondly, when you're too tired to be creative in the free time that is left over.

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#20

Post by luckylion »

keiferski wrote: post #11

I’ve often wondered what society would look like if optimized for saving people time. Just some quick thoughts: - Crosswalks and traffic lights would become non-existent and replaced with more pedestrian overpasses, turning/merging lanes, and other designs. Waiting for the light to change is a huge waste of time for both pedestrians and drivers. It seems like we might get this eventually with self-driving cars. - Min…

> I’ve often wondered what society would look like if optimized for saving people time.

No TV, entertainment etc, which basically exist only because we have more time than we know what to do with, so we pay people to kill time.

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