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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

#21

Post by ReactiveJelly »

naringas wrote: post #16
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…

> why should we be so stingy with time?

Because it's fungible. If I save 10 seconds, maybe I get to keep those for myself.

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#22

Post by naringas »

it seems to me, that this has to do with a fundamental difference between selling products and selling services (I don't mean not software services)

when you are making products (material widgets of any kind) it is possible to achieve marginal costs with parallel and serial manufacture, and with technology and specialized machines.

but if you're selling service (e.g. a waiter) then it's not really possible to "industrialize" production the same way

and don't get me started on software (becuase I wouldn't know how to start)

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#23

Post by hackeryogi »

celeritascelery wrote: post #12

> TurboCharge your Dev Environment This section feels like a stub where the author forgot to finish it. Was really hoping for some good ideas.

Thanks for the feedback. It does have a short write up on things to do. I have a lot more opinions on that, but was trying to balance out the overall length of the post. Will try having one out just on the dev environment :)

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#24

Post by naringas »

ReactiveJelly wrote: post #21
naringas wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> why should we be so stingy with time? Because it's fungible. If I save 10 seconds, maybe I get to keep those for myself.

to each their own, I guess...

I am just (strangely) reminded of Charles Dickens' classic a christmas story: "bah! humbug!".

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#25

Post by Andrew_nenakhov »

lucb1e wrote: post #8

The movie "in time" (2011) kind of explores this. At the time, I wrote: > it gets you thinking. What prevents time from being used as currency? Or are we really doing the same by paying people an hourly rate instead of based on their accomplishments? Not to mention how many lives that million years capsule must have cost.

This explores it in a rather poor way. Once you and all your friends have a hundred year on your accounts, why not just stop working in this society and just go build a new civilization using bottle caps as means of exchange? Why being slaves to people who fix prices for everything all the time?

Also. Economy there had no sense. Every person is passively using 24h worth of 'money' every day by simply existing. That means, to make ends meet they must earn 24h + some surpus to make a living, but the dude earned something like 5 hours in a shift (he had ~23:55 before shift, and 1:04:50 after. If shift lasted 8 hours, he was making just 13 hours per day - totally unsustainable.

The idea was nice, but I feel it was a somewhat wasted potential.

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#26

Post by keiferski »

naringas wrote: post #16
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…

Ideally, the road would be at a lower level than the sidewalk. Then you wouldn’t need to spend time climbing up the bridge, and it wouldn’t be a big deal to have multiple wide bridges. Think Venice, except roads instead of canals.

Presumably engineering tech will also get better and cheaper and some sort of rapid outdoor escalator or elevator could also solve the problem.

Regarding stinginess: I understand where you’re coming from, but I also feel like there are time-intensive aspects of modern life which have little-or-no value, like waiting in traffic.

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#27

Post by julienreszka »

dlkf wrote: post #19
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.

It is downvoted because many people who lack philosophical and historical culture believe in the myth of productivism. Largely debunked during the 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakhanovite_movement

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#28

Post by zdkl »

ReactiveJelly wrote: post #21
naringas wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> why should we be so stingy with time? Because it's fungible. If I save 10 seconds, maybe I get to keep those for myself.

I think an interesting question is whether we are respectively good judges on the "real" value of those ten saved seconds vs more abstract quality of life issues such as mental health or reductions in stress.

Re: Time is the only real currency we have

#29

Post by ct520 »

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…

This is pretty much my life to the extent of how much I can control it in society.

I never do any singular thing with the exception of work.

I won’t leave the house unless I can divide and group that time into multiple objectives thus spreading the overhead of time lost against many achievements.

If not in a meeting I have my pleasureable conversations via car phone when I commute some where. If I’m not in a meeting when commuting or talking to friend / family I’m streaming a new pluralsight tutorial over Bluetooth.

I work through any meeting that doesn’t maximize my output to 100%. (I’m remote most of the time)

I listen to self growth audio books when I shower.

When I head to the bar if I’m not killing two birds with one stone networking or meeting a client I’ll bring my laptop to get work done.

Tasks that I cannot streamline and time intensive I pay for.

Blah blah I can go on and on.

Ironically the one thing I haven’t mastered is how to delegate to achieve bigger goals leveraging employees.

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