I have listened to a lot of discussions on the advent of the generator in recent times. Bill Gates publicly said that in the 10th year, the AI will replace many doctors and teachers and that humans will not be necessary “for most things”. Many famous people predicted that Senient ai is not too far. In fact, Gates and other CEOs of leading technology have said that AI is the largest trend defining the next decade, more than commercial wars and geopolitics. Whether or not it is We think the AI will advance this quicklyThere is an intriguing question before us: if AI does enough work to free us to do other things, what will we do with all this additional time?
I liked to watch Jerry Seinfeld; He always never ages. I have always been very intrigued by its point of view on the value and the definition of time. He said, “The secret of life is to waste time in a way you love.” Note that he uses the words “wasting” and not “spend time”. I also heard him say that even if most people think that our life is too short, he does not agree, saying that life is actually too long. Seinfeld argues that the concept of “quality time” is defective – all the time is a quality time. In fact, unproductive moments like eating cereals late at night or lounging on the sofa can be the most precious, he said.
This message has always intrigued me, but ironically, I didn’t really have time to unpack it until recently. To be able to fully appreciate this concept, I first need an empty space in my very complete brain. This space must have been created in an environment where time has slowed down for me, offering my brain an additional ability to think and treat. Time has slowed down when I moved to Mexico.
I needed this space to return to my childhood memories, adulthood and average age. When I was younger, time has spent too slowly. I was bored, always in a hurry for the next thing in life. As we get older, time seems to spend too quickly and I have the impression of running out of time. As a result, I am more protective of the way I spend time. I realized in the long term, my relationship with time was fluid and not linear. Let me explain.
In my Americanized adult brain, time is linear. He advances tirelessly, creating an emergency to maximize every moment before he was irreparably lost. Time is something to capture, conquer and make the most of it, because it does not come back. It is a commodity, a precious limited resource, and therefore the objective is to obtain a mastery over time. In Western culture, we are taught to monetize time: “Time is money”. It is a token that should be converted into an achievement or something material such as richness. The workers are paid on time, lawyers invoice the minute and advertising is sold by the second. The value of time is associated with the economy rather than with experiences. This state of mind of rarity around time was wired in my brain.
In recent years, observing how Mexicans have spent time between them – at work, while eating, during the holidays, the night or with friends and family – I feel like not to appreciate the time in the same way I learned. In Mexican culture, it seems that time is not assessed at its production capacity, but rather in the context of the quality and exhaustiveness of experiences. Even at work, we often see Mexicans taking the time to smile, laugh, walk and have a coffee together. In one way or another, human experience is intertwined over time in a way that it is not so linear.
The concept of “right away“(Literally” at the moment “) illustrates this concept around the circular nature of time. When a Mexican says “right away», This does not really mean that something will happen immediately; It just means “not at the moment”. Another time, maybe now, maybe later, it’s certainly not.
This concept can be seen in Mexican traditions and festivals that celebrate life and death. For example, the day of the dead aligns with the arrival of monarch butterflies, symbolizing the link between seasonal changes and ancestral memory. These Mexican traditions reinforce the idea that the concept of time is synonymous with the cyclic nature of life itself.
Living in Mexico made me talk for the first time: why does time exist? Does time exist so that we can live life or is it a token to convert into things? When an experience is valued beyond the context of “time is money”, the idea of ”waste” (by the quotation of Seinfeld) changes considerably. I think the Mexican concept of time is linked to the fundamental questions of being and meaning. Time is not a token to exchange. Mexican culture tends to consider it as a rhythm; A rhythm linked to agricultural rhythms and linked to spirituality via the cycle of birth and death.
I leave you an example to illustrate what I mean. The other day here in San Miguel de Allende was an event commemorating Jesus on the cross (The Lord of the column). My Mexican friend Claudia told me that she planned to stand overnight with her family, friends and neighbors celebrating the festival. Hearing this, I rolled my eyes thinking that there is no way I get one night at this age – I would feel like shit the next day and I like a good night’s sleep. In fact, the last time I pulled a night was when I was 20, watching two consecutive sun rising and drinking a lot of beer between the two. Claudia is in their fifties, but she draws on average eight to 10 nesting per year – some with her mother over 80 – cook, eat, dance, talk, laugh with her family for celebrations or participate in community activities.
I included a few photos of what happened during this night in San Miguel de Allende to a few houses in our house. When I saw them, I understood what I missed by choosing to stay at home. Married to my routine, I was too worried to be tired the next day and consequently, I missed the experience of something magical.
Now I do not suggest that I should do what Claudia does with regard to nesting. But on reflection, I dispute my own definition of time and its value in productivity against experiences.
I also admit that as a professional, in a working environment, I would not do well with the concept of “right away. “However, as I aged, I realized that there is a difference between doing and being, and I could certainly have benefited from a more balanced vision of this concept earlier in my life.
So – in the next decade (or less than that), if humans will not be necessary to do most things, what will we do with our time? I think it will challenge us to ask fundamental questions around our identity and our existence rather than seeking control over time. Perhaps we will have to understand the difference between “spending” in relation to “waste” time. Do you know what you like to waste time? For my brain, it will take a step back, which I will discuss the second part of this article next Saturday.
Together was born in India, studied and worked in the United States and now lives in Mexico with her husband, Travis. They are the co -owners of Mexico City News Daily. Discover more Tamanna’s writing below.
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