“I don’t have time = It’s not important to me”

G’day mate,

This week I’ve spent a lot of time watching videos on You Tube.  At school, often my students come into my room and ask me “Have you seen such and such video?”

So that night, I have a look at that particular video and that leads me to another ten, or more, videos and soon my night is over. I often wonder whether or not I’m wasting my time?

In many ways, the greatest fear I have in life is the fear that I am wasting my life – missing out on enjoyable experiences and not contributing to the world as much as I am capable of doing.

Well, “time” has been the subject of many videos I’ve watched recently…

Einstein’s concept of space-time is interesting to me as a teacher, as it is still something I am getting my head around. Basically, we measure time relative to how things are changing around us.  But the way things are changing around us depends upon how fast we are moving.  In other words, there is no ultimate “truth” to what a “real” second is – a second can vary depending on your speed!

Apart from Physics, I’m also interested in the philosophy around the concept of time.  We usually think that what is happening “now” is dependent on what has happened in the past.  So our current actions will have future consequences.  But do future events also have an impact on what is happening “now”?  For example, because you want to eat dinner later today, you might go to the shop now to buy some food.  There are some interesting quantum physics experiments about measurements changing the past, but I won’t go into them now.

So is “time” just a concept we have made up in our heads?  We assume that one “event” causes the next “event”, but maybe there is only one, everlasting “happening”?  We choose to chop up this “happening” into separate events, and where we decide to chop is our choice.  With this viewpoint, there is no cause and effect – there is just what is.

And this philosophy doesn’t only apply to time.  When applied to “things”, it makes “you” think about what “you” are?  Where do you draw the line between you and the rest of the universe?  Are you your body?  Are you your mind?  What is it that makes you “alive”?  How does consciousness arise?

And then there are questions about cause-and-effect and control…  Do you control your body?  Do you control your mind?  What role does your sub-conscious mind play?

There is so much to think about.  But what’s the point of asking these questions?  Are they just a waste of time?

Well, to answer that, you need to think about the purpose of your life.  Who are you and what do you want to do with your life? But these questions are related to what we have been thinking about – what makes “you” you and what controls what is happening “now”? These are big questions that warrant discussion at another “time”.

For now, let’s assume that “you” can control your actions.  The question for you to answer is…

“What do you value the most in life?”

For me, “happiness” is my top priority. Because of that, if watching You Tube videos and entertaining my mind makes me happy, then doing so is not a “waste of time”.   It is an activity aligned with my core value of enjoying life.

Writing this article has certainly kept me entertained for a while, and I hope reading it has entertained you.

Cheers,

Bazzastotle

Note:

Some of the videos I’ve watched recently are…

• In a Nutshell – What are You
• In a Nutshell – What is Life Is Death Real
• In a Nutshell – What is Something
• VSauce- What Can You Do Without A Brain
• Derren Brown Mind Control Animal Heaven