Lovers do it. Economists and philosophers do it. Children do it. We measure time. For each of us, the metrics are, of course, different. When we are in love, time either feels like it stands still, or it passes all too quickly. Economists measure our productivity and determine it by the output of each hour we spend doing something. For philosophers, time, like almost everything, is a state of mind. Does time even exist, outside of the human consciousness? Is it an invention of the human brain? For children, the only time is now.
Today, the question has a new urgency, thanks to Artificial Intelligence. Why? Because advanced technologies in computer science are automating almost everything a human being can do. That raises the question: “What can humans do that computers can’t?”
What will be the best and highest value use of our time?
How do we think about this question? For centuries, we have thought about time as a physical quantity. Because it is measurable, we can relate that to other things we can see, touch and feel. In an hour, how many peas can you pick? How many shoes can you manufacture? How many legal documents can you draft? What do these activities have in common? Our time is valued by the output of physical goods. This is the basis for our accounting system. A farm worker is typically paid minimum wage, often less (around $12/hour). A factory worker will earn a bit more per hour, perhaps twice as much ($15-20/hour). A young lawyer might earn five times as much. The top star athletes and actors earn between $50-100 million per year, much of that through endorsements (advertising). What does this say about what we value?
Clearly, we value the pleasure of being entertained more highly than anything else. Is pleasure more highly valued than other feelings, accomplishments, or tangible assets? Isn’t pleasure, by definition, fleeting, not to mention relatively superficial? Is this a sound, long-term basis for growing our economy and for society?
One of the most prominent features of our mobile economy and ecommerce is the convenience of having an interface that is (almost) always in our hands, literally, that eliminates the need for physically going to stores, bank branches, etc. We continue to develop technologies that simplify our lives by creating more efficient infrastructures so less human effort is required to complete everyday tasks. From the traditional perspective, our economy is becoming ever more productive. We are able to do more while using less resources.
This kind of productivity is certainly an important and valuable objective, especially in an industrial context. But, remember that the Industrial Economy is based on extraction of natural resources and of human labor. One of the dramatic shifts of the Knowledge and Relationship Economy is that knowledge itself, e.g., insights derived through Artificial Intelligence, is perceived to have great value, often before practical applications can be implemented. We are only at the very earliest days of an accelerating explosion of knowledge, not just data, the amount of which is increasing exponentially. What are we going to do with this new source of self-perpetuating, intangible assets?
This raises the issue of valuing knowledge. If we, as humans, aspire to be valued for more than physically measurable output, what else can we offer? Creativity, fresh ideas, artistic inventions… human relationships…time?
Whatever you may think of all the hype about digital currencies (cryptocurrencies) and blockchain technology, real communities of people, mostly tech enthusiasts, are coming together where the medium of exchange is the sharing of bold new ideas and facilitated through an exchange of proprietary tokens (“coins”). People can be rewarded for their participation as human beings engaging with other humans and for their contribution toward the further development of the technology. Isn’t it entirely appropriate that a digital economy, based on photonic communications, that enables real transactions in digital format, can also encourage a shared belief in the value of simply being part of an online community?
Isn’t this a way to define a community?
What about the concept of time in this context? In a digital economy, activities are self-referencing. Relative time is more important than time charted in the Gregorian Calendar. A value will be defined more by the content of the contribution than by “ownership” or by the amount of time and effort required to produce work.
This has revolutionary ramifications for all of society because fundamental assumptions are being redefined because of technology. What is productive work? How will we measure productivity? How will we learn how to be happier (long-term)? How will these tech tools enable us to feel more empowered, not just to survive, but to create and share what others can value?
How do we want to value ourselves, our time? How will we define the meaning of our lives?
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