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What do you find interesting? Are you one of those people who spends their time consuming or creating, in the negative or the positive, on people, events or ideas? It doesn't matter too much most likely as what you find interesting may very well not be to me, but that doesn't mean that someone else won't share your passion for it. 

https://i.imgur.com/q6F91On.jpg

We all tend to spend time on what we think is interesting to us and therefore weight it as more important than other things in our life that don't attract the same attention. Even when there is no one around, the attention economy is at play and on that deserted island, the lone inhabitant will look to satisfy what is drawing attention at that moment, it could be hunger inciting a hunt, driving rain to build shelter or, a broken spear to make a tool. When it comes to entertainment in the modern world however, there seems to be no bottom to the stomach or enough flow to quench the thirst. It is unlimited. 

But, there is an opportunity cost for every action and consumption takes time, whether it be a minute or an hour, it is time away from doing something else. But, when what we are consuming is interesting to us and we place a higher value on what we deem important and we might forgo something else that we have devalued or of course, hasn't even come into our awareness at all. 

I wonder, what are the biggest factors that are influencing your life at the moment; your relationships, your bank account, your job, the president? What matters to you, and *what matters to your life?* How much time is spent doing what we prefer on things that have very little influence over our life position, in comparison to the time spent on what actually has an affect? 

I think social media is an interesting indicator of what kinds of things people spend their time on and how much of it is spent frivolously. Of course, it is an individual's choice how they spend their time and resources, but there seems to be more online time spent on what doesn't matter to that individual than on what really does. 

The other day I watched while I ate lunch, a young guy sitting with his girlfriend spend 20 minutes trying to take the perfect selfie by adjusting his expression, his glasses, his hair and wonder, was the result worth it? Let's say he uploads it to Instagram and gets some likes, some "nice pic" comments and whatever else, what value did it actually bring for him? Sure, he might be some famous Instastar, but it is highly unlikely and, the amount of people who behave this way suggests there are more wannabe's than realities. There is value in the behavior however, it just isn't for most individuals, it is for the platform as they add transactional mass, user statistics and ToS to their figures that they leverage for targeting and marketing sales.

I wonder at what point this kind of behavior loses favor, and what happens to all of those people who have put their time and effort into doing much else. What is the cost of time investment into developing a social media profile that has no potential learning either of self or audience - what is the gain? What do these people consume in the normal world, what are the interest of a person who's Instagram is filled of photos of themselves carefully curated to be their best angle, every time? 

How we spend our time is likely the largest factor that influences our lives and I wonder if we were to audit the consumption and activity habits of a large slice of humanity, what would it show? I wonder if people would adjust their habits and focus once they saw where their time actually went and if they would be able to change their situation for the better (whatever that means to them) by refocusing their attention and consumption. I would predict yes. 

*We are what we consume,* and it is relatively apparent what one has eaten through the focus of their attention and what the next consumption behavior is, or what the next discussion is going to be about. For example, I write a lot about various aspects of Steem, because I spend a lot of time on Steem and thinking about Steem. Another person might spend their time on various social issues, politics, movies, music or whatever else. 

From a professional standpoint, one likely has to spend time in one's career information to be good at the skills and stay up to date with changes and if ignored, the career will suffer. A tech expert that does nothing technical for 5 years will likely find that even if their skills haven't degraded, their relevancy to the industry has. I think that this is why a lot of people will find themselves irrelevant in many ways as they focus on a narrow preference and as times change, what they have invested in is no longer as valuable as it once was, but the sunk cost invested in has actually made it more valuable. It is why some people still have 1980s mullet haircuts with it short at the front and long at the back, they grew attached, and with each passing year it becomes harder to change. Ingrained habit and familiarity. 

When it comes to Steem, I am looking forward to the time that the current talk about Steem is no longer relevant because the blockchain and crypto industry has evolved and matured into a mainstream process.  Of course, I hope that Steem talk continues in other capacities and topics though. Hopefully, if someone was to leave now and come back in 5 years, Steem would be unrecognizable in many ways and just like the tech expert, people will have built their knowledge and careers on the blockchain and in the industry. I think there are going to be lots of positions for blockchain experts in the future, but to be an expert, one has to learn and evolve with the changing times - consume from knowledge expert resources. 

I wonder if the 20 something that was spending his time populating Instagram with an angle of his chin and consuming the chins of his friend instead spent the time learning about crypto or blockchain, what would his "5 years from now" look like?

The future is a hard thing to calculate because we do not really know what the value of our actions have now will be in that future, but I take the approach that if everyone else is doing it, there isn't going to be a great deal of value in doing the same. This doesn't mean there isn't value in what everyone else is doing though, that is why Facebook and Google churn over trillions, because they have developed business models that attract average people wanting to see more of themselves, no matter the cost to their own skillset and future.

When it comes to Steem, crypto and blockchain, the masses are going to be lining and traveling the streets in the same way they do cities, the trick is to own the infrastructure they are going to walk upon. The great thing about Steem is that any one of the users can choose to become an owner themselves and both benefit from and enable others to live a better life - even if only putting selfies into an app for a blockchained heart. 

I wonder if we could talk to our future self, would they have wanted us to spend more time on something else?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ] 

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