Answer:
Usually, when we talk about time, we’re really talking about one of several different phenomena that get grouped together. “Time” is a convenient way to describe all of them, but the answer depends on which “time” you’re talking about. I’m going to talk about the social construct called time.
Time is valuable as a way of estimating certain kinds of processes. We know the earth doesn’t revolve around the sun every 365 days so we create “leap years” to adjust. Anyone who cooks knows that “time” in a recipie is an estimation, and humidity, altitude, and a host of other factors are more significant factors for when food is “ready”, but that estimation is an important tool.
The human understanding of time allows for the organization of schooling. We know that not all children who have made five rotations around the sun are ready for school, but we use that as a reference (and expectation) for children. We also use it to determine work, voting, and sexual activity, even though we know that the correlations between rotations around the sun and ability are sketchy.
But because analyzing each and every person in a society is a very impractical thing, time becomes a tool. A very useful tool that works on averages (and means) to create policies, laws, and other cultural standards that work for *most* of the people in that society.
But it’s also political. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the basis of time around the world, but what if you choose to not use that? China and India are noted for not using that. Chavez in Venezuela moved time by :30 in that country. And in some Muslim countries, the “time” of sunset and sunrise can vary based on politics between nations as well.
And of course, there’s the practicality of work and travel. If I know I have to be at work at “9am”, and the bus leaves at “7:30am” then I can plan because I know that system of time and it is more consistent on a human level than “sunrise” or “daybreak” or “dawn” (though you’ll find this is used in some parts of the world).
Time has a lot of value, but mostly because we give it that.