Beliefs About Time and Money

[Ron Resnick]

Another Johnson writes:

It is a bad exchange to trade time for money.

Time is pricelessly finite.

Money has no value except to the extent that it facilitates your ability to improve the lives of your family, friends and community.

 

[Ron Resnick]

What do you think of each of these beliefs?

Do you think each statement is true, or false, or incomplete?

 

[cjfrbw]

LOL! What if you have nothing but time, but no money. Or, you have tons of money, but no time to use or enjoy it?

Probably more productive to concentrate on the Zen principle that you have a moral obligation to find some positive joy in today's life, and stop trying to control the past and the future.

I had a friend now deceased who was an heiress of a famous fortune, who would walk around Pacific Heights and point at the houses of the people who had more money than her. "This and that person had SO MUCH money!" I had the impression that being exclusively controlled by very large amounts of money was not necessarily the most satisfactory way to live. She did not die a happy death.

I think it was David Geffen who said something to the effect that people who think money buys happiness are people who never had a lot of money.

So, where does that place the veblens commodity lust of high end audio and its status groupie cults? I don't think I will touch that one, except that wasting time on music is a good waste of time.

 

[Fishfood]

LOL! What if you have nothing but time, but no money. Or, you have tons of money, but no time to use or enjoy it?

Probably more productive to concentrate on the Zen principle that you have a moral obligation to find some positive joy in today's life, and stop trying to control the past and the future.

I had a friend now deceased who was an heiress of a famous fortune, who would walk around Pacific Heights and point at the houses of the people who had more money than her. "This and that person had SO MUCH money!" I had the impression that being exclusively controlled by very large amounts of money was not necessarily the most satisfactory way to live. She did not die a happy death.

I think it was David Geffen who said something to the effect that people who think money buys happiness are people who never had a lot of money.

So, where does that place the veblens commodity lust of high end audio and its status groupie cults? I don't think I will touch that one, except that wasting time on music is a good waste of time.

The number of super wealthy folks I've known in my life that will say "now that guy, he's really rich" cannot be counted on one hand.

 

[Another Johnson]

I think of fellows like Andrew Carnegie who did their best to give it away productively. Not like the bizarro world alternative of Brewster’s Millions where there is no goal but to make it go away.

Brewster could have dumped the whole load with one visit to a high end audio boutique in 2023. Maybe in the sequel they can write this idea into the script.

 

[Another Johnson]

There is a Aesop story that touches on this. Aesop was a slave who lived centuries before the Common Era (BC).

There was a man who loved his gold. He had it melted and formed into a large golden lump and he buried it in the woods near his house.

Every day he would go to the woods to check on and admire his gold. A passerby noticed his trek to the woods one day, and curious, he followed him. When the gold’s owner left the woods, the passerby dug up the lump and stole it.

The next day when he went to visit, the lump of gold was gone. Panicked, he ran to his neighbors and to town to ask about it. But the effort was to no avail.

Finally, he sought advice from the wisest man in his community. The wise man thought about it, and pronounced a solution.

“Why don’t you take a large rock, paint it gold, and visit that every day? You’re not interested in using the money for anything, and so a rock will be just as good for visits as the lump of gold had been. “

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Another Johnson writes:

It is a bad exchange to trade time for money.

when faced with this dilemma a couple months ago, i retired. i was finished with my time going the other way.

Time is pricelessly finite.

when you are happy hopefully you are enjoying the moment.....and not fretting about tomorrow other than planning on being happy again.

Money has no value except to the extent that it facilitates your ability to improve the lives of your family, friends and community.

important to make good choices. there is a cost and value protecting and providing for what/who matters.

 

[Ron Resnick]

There is a Aesop story that touches on this. Aesop was a slave who lived centuries before the Common Era (BC).

There was a man who loved his gold. He had it melted and formed into a large golden lump and he buried it in the woods near his house.

Every day he would go to the woods to check on and admire his gold. A passerby noticed his trek to the woods one day, and curious, he followed him. When the gold’s owner left the woods, the passerby dug up the lump and stole it.

The next day when he went to visit, the lump of gold was gone. Panicked, he ran to his neighbors and to town to ask about it. But the effort was to no avail.

Finally, he sought advice from the wisest man in his community. The wise man thought about it, and pronounced a solution.

“Why don’t you take a large rock, paint it gold, and visit that every day? You’re not interested in using the money for anything, and so a rock will be just as good for visits as the lump of gold had been. “

This sounds clever, but only at first blush. The advice giver here makes an assumption, which causes him to misunderstand why the man loved going to the woods to admire his gold.

 

[Another Johnson]

We live in the Information/Misinformation Age. Not the Wisdom Age, or the Knowledge Age.

 

[Bruce B]

Remember.... . Time, is the final currency....

A near death experience does change your priorities in life!

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

It is a bad exchange to trade time for money.

Time is pricelessly finite.

Money has no value except to the extent that it facilitates your ability to improve the lives of your family, friends and community.

What do you think of each of these beliefs?
Do you think each statement is true, or false, or incomplete? // I would just reorder them, and maybe propose a little nuance.

[please forgive my poor English]

Interesting thoughts. Thanks.

0. Time is pricelessly finite.

Universal thruth.​

The clock is ticking for all of us. I am no longer a grand child since my last grand mother died a few weeks ago. We probably all are 'old' enough to realize that it will be, well, rather short... A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’ (The Guardian).​

1. It is a bad exchange to trade time for money.

Indeed. But younger people, if they have no money, have no choice either, so they have to trade what is most precious (time) for what is most valuable for them (money). And they have time ahead (so much time, they think, that T.S. Elliott's sentence seems true to them: "life is long."...). Today, things are changing though amongst young people. It is a good thing.​

2.[superfluous] money has no value, except to the extent that it facilitates your ability to improve the lives of your family, friends and community [and buying good hifi gear, because life is too short for bad audio].

​

A study has shown that, beyond approx. $75.000/year of income, which covers the basic needs and some/many superfluous ones, people were actually not happier (depends of the cost of life in the country of course).​

Regarding point 0., when we, as music lovers, sit and listen (preferably, full-mindnessly), we chose to devoid our priceless time to what we consider as one the most valuable activity in life (besides love, family and friends).

(While I was writing this, the cat innocently stomped on the keyboard and discovered a keyboard shortcut that was unknown to me: the automatically-close-one-tab-after-another shortcut (stupid me, I used to do it manually, with Ctrl+W; the cat is smarter). Very efficient, to say the least. But -hey-, I know the Ctrl+Shift+T shortcut to restore "incatvertently" closed tabs (thanks to the excelent forum, the content had been saved). I laughed a lot, she meowed. We shared a happy moment in the day. Priceless.)

 

[hopkins]

I wish I could function with four hours of sleep. I'd have more time, and possibly more money

 

[Pokey77]

LOL! What if you have nothing but time, but no money. Or, you have tons of money, but no time to use or enjoy it?

Probably more productive to concentrate on the Zen principle that you have a moral obligation to find some positive joy in today's life, and stop trying to control the past and the future.

I had a friend now deceased who was an heiress of a famous fortune, who would walk around Pacific Heights and point at the houses of the people who had more money than her. "This and that person had SO MUCH money!" I had the impression that being exclusively controlled by very large amounts of money was not necessarily the most satisfactory way to live. She did not die a happy death.

I think it was David Geffen who said something to the effect that people who think money buys happiness are people who never had a lot of money.

So, where does that place the veblens commodity lust of high end audio and its status groupie cults? I don't think I will touch that one, except that wasting time on music is a good waste of time.

The bolded portion of the conclusion above is one I subscribe to. Though truly I don't see it as a waste of time. I get that it was intended as tongue in cheek or a joke. haha

 

[Leekg]

[please forgive my poor English]

Interesting thoughts. Thanks.

0. Time is pricelessly finite.

Universal thruth.​

The clock is ticking for all of us. I am no longer a grand child since my last grand mother died a few weeks ago. We probably all are 'old' enough to realize that it will be, well, rather short... A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’ (The Guardian).​

1. It is a bad exchange to trade time for money.

Indeed. But younger people, if they have no money, have no choice either, so they have to trade what is most precious (time) for what is most valuable for them (money). And they have time ahead (so much time, they think, that T.S. Elliott's sentence seems true to them: "life is long."...). Today, things are changing though amongst young people. It is a good thing.​

2.[superfluous] money has no value, except to the extent that it facilitates your ability to improve the lives of your family, friends and community [and buying good hifi gear, because life is too short for bad audio].

​

A study has shown that, beyond approx. $75.000/year of income, which covers the basic needs and some/many superfluous ones, people were actually not happier (depends of the cost of life in the country of course).​

Regarding point 0., when we, as music lovers, sit and listen (preferably, full-mindnessly), we chose to devoid our priceless time to what we consider as one the most valuable activity in life (besides love, family and friends).

(While I was writing this, the cat innocently stomped on the keyboard and discovered a keyboard shortcut that was unknown to me: the automatically-close-one-tab-after-another shortcut (stupid me, I used to do it manually, with Ctrl+W; the cat is smarter). Very efficient, to say the least. But -hey-, I know the Ctrl+Shift+T shortcut to restore "incatvertently" closed tabs (thanks to the excelent forum, the content had been saved). I laughed a lot, she meowed. We shared a happy moment in the day. Priceless.)

Smart cat. Clever feline too.

 

[tima]

 

[astrotoy]

If you were born or grew up in poverty or economic or political uncertainty, especially war, then money is often used as a form of security. Something very important, more than using it and different from hoarding it.

Larry

 

[Another Johnson]

If you were born or grew up in poverty or economic or political uncertainty, especially war, then money is often used as a form of security. Something very important, more than using it and different from hoarding it.

Larry

That’s true, but it falls under the “improve the quality of life for you and your family” clause.

 

[PeterA]

I am much more interested in learning what someone does in his/her free time than I am in what he/she does for work.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

It is a bad exchange to trade time for money.

...is the MSB femto 33 clock upgrade a notable exception?


"Time isn't holding up, time isn't after us
Same as it ever was, the same as it ever was..."
THeads + BEno. Remain In Light

 

[tinkerphile]

I would not subscribe to the notion that time is finite. Of course, speaking penultimately, Qoheleth offers sage wisdom regarding the enjoyment of life in this present age. Yet, this is tempered by considerations of the ultimate. Confusion exists, however, when we ultimatize the penultimate; this in regard both to use of time and money.