1.2 The Moment of Transaction

“Time is not a continuously flowing river; time is a series of crisp sounds at the cash register. Every time you make a choice, every time you take action, you are making an irreversible transaction: you pay ‘possibility’ and buy back ‘reality.’”

In the previous section, we established “the rent of existence”: to maintain life structures, we must passively pay maintenance fees. But this is only the baseline of survival. As alchemists of “Auric”, we are more concerned with how to appreciate.

In the economic model of Vector Cosmology, the true value of time does not lie in how many seconds it has flowed (Chronos), but in how many “effective transactions” have occurred.

This section will reveal the subjective nature of time’s passage: the sense of time originates from transaction frequency.

Collapse is Payment: Converting Kinetic Energy into Assets

In physics, what is “something happened”?

From the perspective of quantum mechanics, an event equals wave function collapse.

From the perspective of FS geometry, an event equals rotation of vector projection.

When we face the future, what we have is $v_{ext}$ (external velocity/degrees of freedom).

• This represents “where I can go,” “what I can do.” It is divergent, uncertain, the cash flow of possibility.

When we make a decision (such as deciding to read this book, deciding to love someone), we lock this cash flow.

• It transforms into $v_{int}$ (internal structure/memory). It is convergent, definite, minted gold coins.

$$v_{ext}\stackrel{\text{Decision/Action}}{\to }{v}_{int}$$

This is “the moment of transaction”.

Every present moment is a payment gateway.

You stand at the counter, exchanging your precious $c_{FS}$ budget that could have gone anywhere into a specific, unchangeable history.

• You cannot go both left and right.

• You must pay for the possibility of “going right” to buy the reality of “going left.”

The Relativity of Psychological Time: Transaction Density

This mechanism perfectly explains why our perception of time differs drastically in different states.

1. Flow and High-Frequency Transactions

When you are fully focused on work, creation, or deep conversation with a loved one, you feel “time flies.”

Why? Because you are conducting high-frequency transactions.

Your consciousness is making countless tiny collapses every second: judgment, reaction, correction, confirmation.

• Transaction density is extremely high.

• Your $c_{FS}$ budget is frantically transforming from $v_{ext}$ to $v_{int}$.

• You have minted a large number of gold coins (high-quality memories) in a short time.

Although physical time (Chronos) has passed for a long time, because you have been in the exciting cycle of “payment-acquisition,” your subjective feeling is coherent and compact.

2. Boredom and Transaction Stagnation

When you have nothing to do, daydream, or are forced to do repetitive labor, you feel “time drags on.”

Why? Because transactions have stopped.

• No new information enters your $v_{int}$.

• Your $v_{ext}$ has not transformed into any meaningful structure.

• You are only paying “the rent of existence” (dissipation) without buying any goods.

Boredom is the stagflation of the soul.

You watch your $c_{FS}$ flowing away but cannot spend it. This geometric anxiety of “having money but nowhere to spend” is translated by the brain into “lengthy” and “painful.”

Rejecting Invalid Transactions

At this payment gateway, the most tragic thing is not having no money (short lifespan), but spending money recklessly.

Many people’s lives are full of “invalid transactions”.

• Scrolling through short videos: This is a “false transaction”. Although the screen flashes and information flows, it does not truly increase your $v_{int}$ complexity. You pay attention (the most expensive currency) and only buy back a pile of $v_{env}$ (waste) forgotten in the next second.

• Indecision: This is “transaction blockage”. You stand at the counter, holding money, hesitating to place an order. As a result, time passes, money is eaten by inflation (aging), and you end up empty-handed.

The Alchemist’s Code of Action:

Place orders decisively.

Don’t be afraid of buying wrong (making mistakes is also an increase in $v_{int}$, called experience). The most terrible thing is not buying.

As long as transactions occur, time is minted into entities.

Conclusion: You Are Your Shopping Cart

Finally, when we reach the end of life and look back to settle accounts, who are we?

We are the sum of all transaction records in this life.

• Your body is what you traded with food.

• Your wisdom is what you traded with diligence.

• Your love is what you traded with vulnerability and trust.

Time itself is neutral; it is just a blank check.

It is through your repeated “confirm payment” at the payment gateway that you cash this check into a unique life.

Since we have understood how to accumulate value through transactions, where are these “gold coins” (memories and history) we bought back stored? Have they really dissipated with entropy increase as physicists say?

This leads to the theme of the next chapter: The Anchoring of Value. We will search for the most solid “geometric safe” that can resist the universe’s mechanism of forgetting.