You wake up having been gifted the ability to take time off of your life as a whole in exchange having more time in-the-moment--whether it’s time to think, time to spend doing something or with people, time to hold onto something or someone, whatever. Others will be unaffected, this is personal.
The conversion ratio is ~6 hours of in-the-moment time --> ~1 year of life (or 1:1,460), and it only works one-way.
- Do you use the ability at all?
- If yes, how do you use it--large chunks sparingly or small moments regularly?
- Do you ‘spend’ a significant amount or prioritize retaining lifespan?
- What would you use it for?
- If yes/no, what ratio would make it not worth it/worth it?
- Would it be better to track usage rigorously or to remain unaware?
- What psychological problems/trauma could usage cause you?
- How would you feel if you found out someone you loved had been trading their time?
- If no, what circumstances would convince you to?
Edit: I’m so glad to see diversity in the responses!
Thank you to all who are taking the time to give answers. I intend to respond more when i have time later. :)
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I’d trade lifespan in order to be able to be in-the-moment just a bit longer during my son’s accomplishments, milestones, life events. It could be just another 5 minutes, or more. But also to be able to have more time in-the-moment for when he needs me to be his protector. Time to analyze and get my head around something that is unfolding realtime. The ability to find the right words, and a way to say something heavy in the right tone and with grace.
Typing this all out made me cry. So much is going wrong for me right now, but the thought of “work will be over soon, I’ll get to be with my boy soon” helps me get through these days. And now I might be losing my dad earlier than I thought. I am worried that I might get sick too. I’d take all of the time I can if it could get me more time for right now.
My heart goes out to you. The bleeding from your heart is the love that it’s full of. Cherish every moment with them.
As i’m sure you know, one way we can extend our moments IRL is to document them to be revisited later. Pictures, video, and importantly: journaling about how we feel during events.
How does a life-threatening situation work? If in about to get hit by a car, does the moment expansion allow me to avoid death or does it instantly use to the second I have left and just kills me faster?
And to answer the main question, I would rather chase new moments than prolong existing ones.
The intent is really just about introspection, not necessarily making changes. But feel free to interpret how you want!
Your answer is quite good, though. If you spend your life’s length by staying in small moments you limit your ability to have new experiences. I hadn’t thought of it that way.
absolutely yes I didn’t even read past the conversion rate, I would immediately trade every last year I have available for the happiest moment I’ve ever had that is now gone and raw and sore
I am intimately familiar with this feeling, but there will be more.
thanks ❤️
Let’s say I will live to age 90. Morbidity stats would suggest that the last 10 or so years would be utterly unenjoyable, perhaps even torturous. As well as chronic illnesses causing pain, I might be suffering from dementia and/or have lost my eyesight, hearing or ability to walk.
However, I might be destined to die suddenly at age 65, in reasonable health and with all my faculties in working order. So, to answer your question, one would need to know one’s expected lifespan and likely state of health. To a certain degree, this is possible given the science around heredity and genetic testing (UK insurance companies are not allowed to take genetic testing into account when underwriting policies).
Another factor is how much one is enjoying one’s current existence: if you’re hating life, you wouldn’t want to spend more time in the present especially if you believe the future will be better, and vice-versa. Of course, there’s no way to know how things will pan out until someone invents a time machine.
Personally, I wouldn’t be willing to make any decisions without a lot more data!
Yes, i agree. Without knowing how much time you have left it would be hard to spend it on anything.
I will say, though, if you’re hating life right now you might feel more inclined to spend a little longer in a good moment.
I think in reality many people would also be plagued with decision paralysis. I know i would.
No, I would wish for my son to not grow old so quickly, but a mere 6 hours isn’t gonna make much difference there. Maybe if I could get a year for a year. A year of my life for him reamining another year at this age(6). Maybe I would do that.
So I go from losing 1 hour per hour to 1,460 hours per hour? Nah, man
