Time:

Josh, Living Fossils:

>“The article reminded me of how happy I have been lately, but also how little I have to talk about when people ask me what I’ve been up to.”

This need to “report back” to the group, to have something to say when someone asks what you’ve been doing, is fascinating. We feel accountable to others, as if we must justify how we have been spending our time, even when that time is our own. Put another way, there is pressure to make our personal time socially exchangeable. To create through our leisure or solitude some form of social currency or capital.<

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>There are two things we can do with our time: consume it or invest it. There are many instances of this binary. One is personal/social. If I spend my free time doing what I want, then I’m consuming it, whereas if I do something to raise my “interesting person quotient,” then I’m investing it.<

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> my first draft of an article is always the most enjoyable because I write it however I want. With each subsequent draft, I become more aware of creating a valuable product for readers. This reduces my present and personal gratification while (usually) raising my future, social payout.<

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>The extent to which we document vacation is another example. Taking a picture removes us from the moment, but it also preserves that moment for the future and others.<