Mere Philosophy #3


Mere Philosophy #3
            Why do we waste time if it is our most valuable resource? We waste so much more time than we do any other resources relative to the proportion of the supply of those resources that we possess and the amount wasted. I have concluded that some potential reasons for why we do this are as follows: 1) We ignore the fact that we will die relatively soon from now with regard to a geological and cosmological standpoint, 2) we are statistically more likely to judge ourselves as being more invincible than we really are, and 3) we place too much energy and focus on the activities and ideas that do not truly matter to ourselves and the people whom we care about.
Courtesy of Investopedia
            Not to sound morbid and coldhearted, but the average lifespan of people in developed countries is around 80 years [1]. Geologically speaking, this is about enough time for a tectonic plate to move a mere seven and a half feet [2]. Also, this is about the same amount of time it takes for Uranus to travel around the Sun once [3]. Thus, we place too little value on the concept of time and how much of it we really have. To fix this, we are going to need some huge changes on a cultural level.
            Due to our innate predisposition favoring the optimism bias [4], we often have the idea that “that could never happen to me” after watching a news report on a mass shooting or “I will be safe from it” after a hurricane hits the eastern seaboard. Although these events are not statistically likely to cause your death compared with car wrecks, we must reevaluate our mode of thinking concerning invincibility to productively place more weight on time.
            Lastly, if you were to die right now, would you be proud of how you spent your time? More often than not, our honest answer to that question is no. Therefore, I urge you to truly, genuinely, and, in the most unbiased manner possible, reevaluate your priorities. Does this task really matter to your success, passions, or ideologies? And I am not talking about high school or college (although some exceptions do exist and college is not for everyone). Truly ask yourself that question.

Thanks for all the support, and have an amazing day.
References
[1] Donnelly, G. (2018, February 9). Here’s why life expectancy in the U.S. dropped again this year [Article]. In Health and life expectancy. https://fortune.com/2018/02/09/us-life-expectancy-dropped-again/?
[2] National Geographic. (n.d.). Plate Tectonics. [Article]. In Science. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/plate-tectonics/
[3] Solar System Exploration. (n.d.). Uranus. [Article]. In Nasa Science. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/by-the-numbers/
[4] Kim, J. (2017, June 26). Why we think we are invincible. [Article]. In Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/valley-girl-brain/201706/why-we-think-we-are-invincible

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