This was written December 10th, 2025
Lost Time
Time, a valuable currency in this society. And yet, it’s all being wasted all the time. But here’s the secret, all these modern inventions all intended to retain your attention, where you spend a few hours scrolling mindlessly, and at the end of it, don’t really recall any of the content? Welp, it turns out the business model isn’t what we actually assumed it was. They’re not just trying to retain your attention in order to sell advertisement space. After all, if you can’t remember any of the content you watched, are you really more likely to retain any of the information from the ads you’re watching? Not particularly.
So, what are they actually trying to get at with this? Welp, turns out this time you’re wasting, that’s seemingly flying away, disappearing in the blink of an eye, it’s not quite going away. It’s being taken away from you and redistributed. Yes, you heard me correctly, they’re actually just stealing your time to give it away to others.
But how does that work exactly? Well, I’m not a technical person, so I don’t understand the technology or sorcery behind this, but I at least know what the result is. You’re basically just skipping ahead with a small cut-scene served to you. And what’s done with that time? Well, it’s sold to the highest bidder, of course. And that tends to be companies, which want for their employees to be more productive.
Indeed, it’s not like your time you lost is simply turned into “lifespan”, that would be a bit ridiculous. Instead, it’s turned into actual time that can be re-used, just introduced in a gap. Though really, in both cases, it’s really more of a multiplier. Which you’re being drained, it’s as if time goes faster. While you’re re-using it, it’s the opposite, time just goes slower, allowing you in turn to accomplish more in a shorter period of time.
Seems wonderful, doesn’t it? Yes, that could be really useful, however, it’s not like this is actually accessible to most of us. After all, were you really aware prior to now? I would bet not. Of course, only companies get to make use of this. And without our explicit consent. Oh, yes, they get our tacit, implicit consent, hidden without the endless pages of legalese know as “User Agreements”, which, let’s be frank, not a soul really reads unless they have to. And even then, those things are camouflaged under obscure terminology.
So, as we were discussing, companies use this “lost time” in order to make their own employees more productive. Parts of the wealthy population also make use of this technology for their own purpose. You might know someone like that, always doing a thousand things at the same time, juggling way more things than seem possible in a single day, and yet they’re successful at all of them. They’ve probably managed to buy some of that lost time in order to handle everything.
And how can you possibly compete with such people? After all, they’ve got a double edge over you. Not only do they not waste and lose time getting it sucked through these devices, but they even acquire extra time. It does sound unfair, the successful feeding their own success. But so is life, and decrying injustice tends to be insufficient, you first need to rise to the top before being to enact change.
Unsurprisingly, if this time was transferred in order to help propel helpful science forward, I might not raise any alarms. (Although, ethically, I might still be concerned). But instead, it’s simply serving to feed the economy, not being redistributed in anyway down to the populace. Accordingly, this feels like a no-brainer, and I’m here to raise awareness. If you decide to consume still, that is your own issue. But you might at least be knowing victims.
Ultimately, here is the big question: What can we possibly do? Well, at a societal level, not much can really be done. Therefore, I have only two recommendations, one personal, one social. Personally, if you are against this injustice, you should move away from these social media, from all these apps sucking all your time away. If you do this, not only will you be able to reclaim your own time, being able to repurpose it more judiciously, but you also won’t be giving extra resources to corporations actively working against you, with no care for your own interests.
But how can you do that? There are multiple options, some gradual, others more direct. There exists multiple apps or extensions tracking you time spent and which can automatically block your usage after a certain threshold. You could then gradually lower those thresholds until you’re ready to quit altogether, gradually weaning yourself off this addiction. If your convictions are strong enough, and your motivation sufficient, I would highly advise to simply delete those apps, and use blockers on your browsers to prevent you from accessing the websites themselves (on mobile, Firefox allows the use of extensions). This is the most sure-fire way to stop. Adding extra layers of friction. And if you’re even tempted to install them again, remind yourself of the cost.
Moreover, if you’re worried about this at a societal level, spread the word. Warn others. Tell people in your circles about this grave abuse. Help the new circulate! You could also direct them to this article. Help others escape those chains! Help set them free!
I hope I managed to convince you of how dire the situation is, and that you’ll be willing not only to consider such drastic measures, but to also apply them. Trust me, you won’t regret the time you’ll be reclaiming. It’s definitely worth it. And honestly, even if this time wasn’t actually being stolen from us, only to be redistributed and repurposed, it would still be 100% worth it. You could see it as an investment in yourself!
I wish you the best of success! I know you can do it!