4 ms·

Being rich means that you have mastered how to turn time into money. Great. So you've got the hang of half of the game - which is no time to sit back and rest o

Being rich means that you have mastered how to turn time into money. Great. So you've got the hang of half of the game - which is no time to sit back and rest on your laurels. Now you have to master turning money into time. http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/02/what-is-wealth.php http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/02/what-is-wealth.ph... We all go through engineering our cycles of property and time; how can we best optimize time to generate property that can be used to make our time more effective? We do this in small ways and large, but everyone does it. Some people do it so effectively they launch themselves into property escape velocity, exponentially increasing the effectiveness of their time and exploring the outer limits of what it means to maintain ownership of a great deal of property. Interestingly, despite the grand importance of time as the absolute foundation of wealth, very little progress has been made in the most obvious optimization of all: creating property that can create more time. More heartbeats, more health, more time spent alive and active. Rejuvenation medicine, capable of repairing the damage of aging. Tissue engineering to generate replacements for worn organs. The cure for cancer. If you could do all that, then the much more productive form of escape velocity becomes possible - longevity escape velocity. Why strive to maintain an empire of property that will crumble to dust when the degenerations of age catch up with you when you could be that fit-looking guy having a blast swimming in the breakers every other Sunday for as long as you like? Wealth is exactly time, and here we are, bordering the era of biotechnology for the repair of aging. Planning ahead for the best possible personal future starts with investment now. Think about it.

jodrellblank 15y ago
Interestingly, despite the grand importance of time as the absolute foundation of wealth, very little progress has been made in the most obvious optimization of all: creating property that can create more time. Very little process ... since when? Doesn't all the progress from the belief in disease as unbalanced humours to MRI machines and lab grown bladders count? Universal cure for cancer, organ regrowth and regeneration, these aren't going to be single inventions by a single small team in one project, all changes in the world which make them more likely are progress. when you could be that fit-looking guy having a blast swimming in the breakers every other Sunday for as long as you like? If you could implant a realistic memory of you swimming in the breakers every other Sunday for a thousand years, such that you felt like you had had a long life, would you?
- warrenwilkinson 15y ago
  I'd say every labour saving device invented would qualify as property that can create more time.
DanI-S 15y ago
As important as this is, I know people whose lives are so consumed by their quest for immortality that they go without much of what makes life worth living. Pursuing the life of an ascetic and munching on supplements in the hope that you'll still be around when the singularity hits - it's not too far from giving yourself to religion.
- nostrademons 15y ago
  When I was in 5th grade, Tuck Everlasting was required reading: http://www.amazon.com/Tuck-Everlasting-Sunburst-Natalie-Babbitt/dp/0374480095 http://www.amazon.com/Tuck-Everlasting-Sunburst-Natalie-Babb... Yes, it's aimed toward 10 year olds, but it's pretty relevant here. It'd probably take less than an hour for an adult to read, which should be just a blip on your quest for immortality. :-)
- stcredzero 15y ago
  As important as this is, I know people whose lives are so consumed by their quest for immortality that they go without much of what makes life worth living. This is a synopsis of a short story by Larry Niven.
  - Eliezer 15y ago
    Yes, it's a synopsis of a lot of stories. But I feel obliged to point out that, in real life, I know a number of people in quest of immortality who lead quite awesome lives on a day-to-day basis, because the same style of rationality and nonconformity that leads you to seek world optimization and indefinite life extension also leads you to, say, polyamory. I also know some sad people in quest of immortality, but they were generally sad before they found out about that stuff. In general, I think that seeking immortality has surprisingly little effect on your prior personality. It's just something you do if you have enough of a logical frame of mind to think "Life is good, death is bad, and Voldemort isn't a real person", but the logical mind is the cause, not the effect.
    - stcredzero 15y ago

jodrellblank 15y ago

Interestingly, despite the grand importance of time as the absolute foundation of wealth, very little progress has been made in the most obvious optimization of all: creating property that can create more time. Very little process ... since when? Doesn't all the progress from the belief in disease as unbalanced humours to MRI machines and lab grown bladders count? Universal cure for cancer, organ regrowth and regeneration, these aren't going to be single inventions by a single small team in one project, all changes in the world which make them more likely are progress. when you could be that fit-looking guy having a blast swimming in the breakers every other Sunday for as long as you like? If you could implant a realistic memory of you swimming in the breakers every other Sunday for a thousand years, such that you felt like you had had a long life, would you?

warrenwilkinson 15y ago
I'd say every labour saving device invented would qualify as property that can create more time.

DanI-S 15y ago

As important as this is, I know people whose lives are so consumed by their quest for immortality that they go without much of what makes life worth living. Pursuing the life of an ascetic and munching on supplements in the hope that you'll still be around when the singularity hits - it's not too far from giving yourself to religion.

nostrademons 15y ago
When I was in 5th grade, Tuck Everlasting was required reading: http://www.amazon.com/Tuck-Everlasting-Sunburst-Natalie-Babbitt/dp/0374480095 http://www.amazon.com/Tuck-Everlasting-Sunburst-Natalie-Babb... Yes, it's aimed toward 10 year olds, but it's pretty relevant here. It'd probably take less than an hour for an adult to read, which should be just a blip on your quest for immortality. :-)
stcredzero 15y ago
As important as this is, I know people whose lives are so consumed by their quest for immortality that they go without much of what makes life worth living. This is a synopsis of a short story by Larry Niven.
- Eliezer 15y ago
  Yes, it's a synopsis of a lot of stories. But I feel obliged to point out that, in real life, I know a number of people in quest of immortality who lead quite awesome lives on a day-to-day basis, because the same style of rationality and nonconformity that leads you to seek world optimization and indefinite life extension also leads you to, say, polyamory. I also know some sad people in quest of immortality, but they were generally sad before they found out about that stuff. In general, I think that seeking immortality has surprisingly little effect on your prior personality. It's just something you do if you have enough of a logical frame of mind to think "Life is good, death is bad, and Voldemort isn't a real person", but the logical mind is the cause, not the effect.
  - stcredzero 15y ago