Purpose

As usual, beware of false dichotomies, whenever the possibilities are (at least) three, yet people try to trick you into seeing only two. In order to criticize one option, and thefore trick you into the other as the only alternative. I hereby tentatively classify mankind into three broad categories:

• Homo festivus
• Homo calvinus
• Homo sapiens

As for the names, Homo festivus, we owe to Philippe Muray. Homo calvinus, inspired by Max Weber's theory of protestantism, as exemplified by Calvin. Alternative names are Homo ludens Homo faber / Homo laborans, Homo occupatus, respectively.

As for Homo sapiens, or Homo creativus, it's the thinking man, it's what Man should be.

In modern parlance: trolls, norms, geeks.

How do you use your time?

Only boring people are bored.

– Mad Men

The fake question here is: should you have free time?

Homo calvinus answers: no. Busy your mind and body with work. Don't be alone. Don't have time to think. Get busy and tired! Fill your life with fake problems to solve.Homo festivus answers: yes! Busy your mind and body with party. Don't solve any problem! Don't be alone! Don't have time to think! Party all the time! Get drunk and wasted. Fill your life with social situations and petty amusements. Don't solve anything.

The real question is: how do you use your free time?

Homo sapiens answers: use your free time to do productive tasks you enjoy. To think. As extremes, spend your free time sending men to the moon, not picking up dog poop:

JERRY: On my block, a lot of ah, people walk their dogs, and I always see them walking along with their little poop bags, which to me is just the lowest function of human life. If aliens are watching this through telescopes, they're gonna think the dogs are the leaders. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume was in charge?

– Seinfeld

This is the future. This is what matters.

If someone is willing to spend most of his free time accompanying a less-advanced species to the toilet, they do not get it.

It's actually quite telling. You have 24 hours in a day. You're willing to spend, what, two of these walking out your dog. What does this tell about the value you place on your time, and thus about yourself?

False dichotomy, again, in view to sex, as denounced by Ayn Rand:

Observe the false dichotomy offered; man’s choice is either mindless, “instinctual” copulation—or marriage, an institution presented not as a union of ''passionate'' love, but as a relationship of “chaste intimacy,” of “special personal friendship,” of “discipline proper to purity,” of unselfish duty, of alternating bouts with frustration and pregnancy, and of such unspeakable, Grade-B-movie-folks-next-door kind of boredom that any semi-living man would have to run, in self-preservation, to the nearest whorehouse.

What's your operational mode?

These three types of people have their own favorite operational mode.

Being bored and finding something to "kill time" vs lacking time to do all the things you want to do.

What are your values? What is your purpose?

In conclusion, the main difference comes down to what your values are, and what your purpose is. Ignore the false dichotomies. Pick your values, stay strong in your frame.