Why money shapes our view of time

"Imagine the Stanford marshmallow experiment in reverse. Instead of getting a second marshmallow for waiting, the children are told that every fifteen minutes they wait, the marshmallow in front of them will shrink one tiny bite at a time, until nothing remains. Naturally, they eat their marshmallow immediately, not out of impatience or hunger, but common sense. That's exactly how our money works today."

~ Connor Dolan

What if the real cost of our broken money isn't just inflation – but the slow erosion of your ability to even imagine a future worth building toward?

This episode explores the surprising connection between Bitcoin, Stoicism, and the question we're all really asking: how should I be spending my time? From the marshmallow experiment in reverse to debt as invisible strings, we dig into why sound money might be the ultimate productivity hack – and why fiat is designed to keep you dependent, distracted, and disconnected from the life you actually want.

Check out the original article: Bitcoin, Stoicism, and Our Relationship With Time (Link: https://x.com/conhodlan/status/2011485978037203351)

References from the episode

• The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous – the book that opened Connor's eyes (and mine) to what money actually is (Link: https://saifedean.com/tbs)

• The Daily Stoic podcast by Ryan Holiday – short, digestible episodes on Stoic philosophy (Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-stoic/id1430315931)

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – the classic starting point if you want to dive into Stoicism (Link: https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html)

• Alex Gladstein's piece Structural Adjustment – a deep look at how the IMF and World Bank use debt as a tool of control (Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/imf-world-bank-repress-poor-countries)

Host Links

• ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney)
• ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann)
• Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann)
• Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann)
• Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann)
• ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible)
• The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

Check out our awesome sponsors!

• HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter)
• OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)