Spending Time

A dialogue on how one’s perception of the value of time is influenced by one’s personal philosophy. 

Student:  Professor, have you ever thought about the idea of spending time?

Professor:  Sure, what aspect are you thinking about?

S:  I’ve been wondering why I don’t spend my time more wisely.  I have a finite amount of time and am in the sole possession of my time.  Given the finite nature which decreases constantly (and at constant rate), it seems that I should value and use it more wisely.  Clearly our time is worth more to ourselves than to others.  We sell our time to an employer, but are we getting good value? 

P:  Are you in possession of time?

S:  Sure – a friend will ask if I have a minute and I’ll stop and give him a minute of my time.  As a living being, I exist in this time and space and I share this experience with everyone else.  I have no choice but to “spend” time.  Perhaps more accurately, time will pass whether I get any value from it or not – beside the obvious value of just living.

P:  We consume time.  Time consumes us.  Isn’t “just living” value enough?

S:  That sounds like a riddle.  Maybe it’s as simple as that - the only value is in the living so why worry about it? 

P:  Time is a riddle, but I don’t think you believe the only value is in the living.  What about what it is that you do?  Time is a great unifying constant that we have no control over, but we do have control over what we do.  Why do you say that you don’t spend your time wisely?

S:  Because if I knew I had only days to live, I’d be doing something other than what I do from day to day.

P:  What do you do from day to day?

S:  Drive to work, sit at a desk, meet with people, solve other people’s problems, supervise employees, and help manage the company.

P:  So you provide a service to clients and co-workers that someone pays for.  What would you prefer to be doing?

S:  I think I’d spend more time writing and I’d spend more time with my loved ones and friends.

P:  Why?

S:  Because that way there’d be things to remember me by, things I’d written and memories shared by my loved ones.  And I’d have time to do things for them – to help them or give them advice.

P:  So, it would seem that you are placing a high value of this “spending of time” with friends and family and leaving behind remembrances of who you were.  Is there anything else you’d want to do if you knew your time was running out?

S:  I guess I’d wonder if I’d accomplished what I needed to do in this lifetime.

P:  Is there a difference between what you need to do and what you want to do during your life?

S:  Yes, I think so.  I think that what I need to do is unknown and tied to my spiritual development while what I want to do is associated with my corporal existence and the day-to-day and year-to-year goals and objectives I define for myself and with my loved ones.

P:  And if there’s a need for spiritual development, how would a physical being expect to achieve that if not through physical actions?  Even expressions of love or humor require physical actions.

S:  I agree, but there are limitless combinations of knowledge and experience to choose from.

P:  But if you feel that you need to learn and experience this dimension of reality in this window of time, then why worry about what you’re doing – isn’t the point to do something?

S:  I suppose, I just wonder if I’m doing the right thing.  Isn’t that natural?

P:  Other animals don’t have that problem do they?  They just go about the business of survival and procreation so as to live their lives and continue the species.  But to answer your question, yes, it is “natural” for us humans to second guess our actions.

I have three questions that will help you sort this out:

What is real?

What is good?

How do you know?

These three fundamental philosophical questions represent the basic inquiries explored in the areas of metaphysics (concerning the nature of things), ethics (concerning good and evil), and epistemology (concerning the nature of knowledge).  Another branch of philosophy, logic, deals with the arguments and reasons one uses to answer such questions.  By answering questions such as these, one can articulate a personal statement of philosophy. 

S:  Why should I delineate a personal philosophy?

P:  Because, whether it is articulated or not, one’s philosophy defines one’s worldview.  It is the basis for all thought and the context for all acquisition of knowledge.   By answering these questions, we gain wisdom; we reason out the nature of our reality – which may differ considerably from that of our neighbors; and we decide what pursuits are worthy or not.  Our philosophies affect every choice we make and every action we take.  Without an understanding of what is real, we would be helpless to function in the world around us.  Without a means to understand our thought processes, we would be unable to gain and apply knowledge and we would have no reason to believe that our thinking was anything other than a chaotic collection of images.  Without a means to decide on the right course of action, our lives would seem random and pointless. 

Each of us has a philosophy that we live by and that we use to understand and interact with the world.  In many ways, our philosophies overlap with those of our fellows.  But, in just as many ways, our philosophies draw us apart into separate realities of what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, real and unreal, important and unimportant, meaningful and pointless.

S:  So what is meaningful and important for me to do may be pointless for someone else, I get that.  That doesn’t help me ferret out whether what I’m doing is what I should be doing.

P:  But your philosophy can.  When you ask yourself what is important for you to do, surely you get an answer.  You’re able to plan and prioritize.  You consider things that are obligatory and things that are optional.  You can choose to do unto others as you’d wish them to do unto you.  You can isolate ourselves from the world and live the life of a hermit.  You can take responsibility for your actions or you can choose to ignore the consequences.  There are untold permutations and possibilities, but your choices are informed by your world view, your values, your dreams and aspirations, your concerns, and losses:  all the experiences you bring to each moment.  How you interact with the world around you is completely up to you and is a function of who you’ve become through your interactions with the world around you.  Each action taken has an impact, however subtle, on who you become in the next moment.

S:  So it sounds like you’re saying it doesn’t matter – that whatever I do will help me learn and grow.

P:  That’s only partially correct because you’ve omitted the impact of your actions on others.  What I’m saying is that every thought and action does matter – to both you and the world around you.   There is some consequence for everything you do or don’t do.  We can’t sense all the myriad influences that our actions and words have, but if you’ve given some thought to what is real, what is good, and how you know, and then act accordingly, you are more likely to be happy about how you’re spending your time than if you have not.