Usain Bolt is considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.
The assumption we go under is that he uses less time to get from point A to point B, making time the measurement.
However, the perspective is not accurate. In words of Ron Baker, “Time is a constraint. A constant constraint”. [Context starts at 4:04, gold at 5:43]
You can’t take it, store it nor use it. You simply get faster/more efficient within that time constraint.
It’s not that Bolt “uses” less time, he just gets more efficient in covering a surface in the same amount of time versus his rivals.
Here’s the thing
Taking time as a measurement puts the focus on the wrong things.
That’s why the idea of hourly billing is insane. If time was the measurement, getting a result faster would mean more profitability for you… while getting paid less.
Or that the longest it takes you, the most profitable something is.
A paradox.
Taking time as the measurement is like saying “the Earth is flat”.
Just because some people believe it, it doesn’t make it a fact.