There are probably better ways to waste your life, but Twitter’s at least pretty efficient
Based on the many years of experience I have not getting things done, I consider myself an authority on wasting time. That’s why I’ll not defer to others on the subject.
There’s a hierarchy of timewasting, with wholesome activities like fishing on top and watching YouTube recommendations at the bottom. Reading is somewhere in between.
| Excellent time wasting | Being outdoors Spending time with others Creating art, music and physical objects Writing |
| Good time wasting | Watching high quality movies Reading Gardening, cooking, napping |
| Abysmal time wasting | Binge watching Social media Checking news sites |
While this sorts activities by how well they waste time, there’s a second dimension, which is the actual amount of time being wasted. Everything is fine in moderation, including re-watching clips from How I Met Your Mother for 15 minutes. The problem arises when a particular time wasting activity is pursued for hours every day, adding up to years in each person’s life and millions of years for humanity as a whole.
On this dimension, streaming services are the biggest offender. How many billions of hours have we wasted this way? According to one source, in the first half of 2023, we spent 92 billion hours on Netflix in just half a year. This is equivalent to 21 million people watching Netflix day and night. Of course, Netflix is only one of many streaming services, and the time wasted on all of those combined will be much higher.
Are some of the Netflix series well made? Yes, they are. Are they enjoyable? Absolutely. So what’s the problem? After all, enjoyment in itself has a value. I believe that the problem is opportunity cost: There are better ways to waste your time, and they’re further up the hierarchy. They are activities that build our communities, create memories and beauty, help us become better people, and make us happy. Rarely ever does watching TV fill the heart with wonder and make you feel truly alive. 21 million watching Netflix are 21 million people who are not making sculptures in their front yards or revitalizing flagging utopian communes.
Nehaveigur 