Living in the modern world, maximising profit and minimising the process are seen as ideal in so many ways. Watching a YouTube video at 2x speed, watching a film analysis, rather than watching the whole thing, ordering DoorDash, using AI for school assignments, selecting the preferred person on dating apps, and more. With numerous decisions to make and the options we face in our daily lives, it is, in a way, important to get fast results. But, isn’t the process important as well? Are we just living life for the sake of killing time?
In no way do I think it is absolutely wrong to want to minimise the process and get quick results. We all have responsibilities, and we can’t just pour all our energy into the process for everything. What I want to emphasise is that getting fast results does not always fulfill your life.Â
For example, reading only the last page of the book will most likely not make you feel emotional, even if it ended with a good quote or a message. That is probably because, to understand the message, you had to read the whole story and know the background.Â
Another example is dating apps. You go on and see a bunch of people that’re your type, and you start comparing different people and carefully selecting who you want to go out with. And in that moment, those people in the app are merely a product for the user. Yes, finding the love of your life randomly is unrealistic and is often energy-draining. But it makes me wonder, what is the point in finding love anyway?
The examples above were external things that are projected to minimise the process, but relating to both of the things I mentioned, this is a key question: What is the point?
This matters in internal ways as well. Say if you’re at the Olympic Games, and you’re watching a female athlete performing whatever kind of sport. She successfully won the gold medal, and not only herself, but all her teammates, coach, and the audience were celebrating with joy and crying. Sure, the performance must have been so outstanding that it made the people who first saw her speechless. But the reason why her winning the gold medal was so emotional to everyone was probably that all the failures and the ups and downs that she went through brought her to where she is today.Â
Regardless of whether it’s about books, films, romance, or even life on a broader scale, the “unnecessary” process is always there. And oftentimes, we look at the results and think that’s the story, that is the end, but in reality, isn’t it what goes on inside? The not-so-productive, messy, heartbreaking, but personal process is what makes the result. Â
Personally, I just hope the world embraces the idea of living in the present, and not always rushing to the end. Because our life is not determined by big events, but it consists of those mundane moments that we take for granted. The difference is that we see the process as something to get rid of or something to grow and create from.Â