According to the Probability-Time Theory of Value (PTTV), regardless of the type of economy, the value of any resource is defined as the subjective potential ability to extend the life (or free up time) of a system (person, company, nation, etc.), taking into account the subjective assessment of the probability of this happening:
                                                                              V_s = T_s * P_s
Where:
T_s: the amount of time the resource adds to the system or individual, as expected by the subject (saving time on completing a task and/or extending their life);
P_s: the probability, as perceived by the subject, that this resource will perform as expected.

Both factors of value in this formula are subjective: both the expected time and the expected probability. For example, someone believes that a certain amulet will protect them from all illnesses (i.e., add years to their life) and will do so almost certainly (for example, with a 90-100% probability). Another believes that the same amulet doesn't always help, but only in isolated cases, or is completely useless, meaning its value in their eyes is significantly lower than that of the other person, or even close to zero.

On the other hand, both time and probability can be measured completely objectively. For example, if you hire a professional tiler to replace your kitchen flooring, he will not only do it much faster than you, but he will also be more likely to achieve the desired result. The difference in time between how quickly you and the tiler complete the task is completely objective and does not depend on your opinion or perception. The same applies to the probability of you and the tiler completing the task to the required standard – it depends on dexterity, skill, and experience, but is in no way dependent on your subjective perception of reality.

You might ask: where is the objective value here if it depends on you, the recipient of the value? There's no contradiction or trick here. Imagine you go to the optometrist, and they prescribe you glasses, say, for minus 3 vision. They help you very well, but they don't help your neighbor, who has plus 5 vision. In other words, their usefulness isn't universal. However, they help you completely objectively, regardless of your will, desires, or beliefs. In other words, they have objective value for you.

Thus, the value of specific glasses or a tiler's services, or any other resource, is objective, but objective in relation to you specifically at a given time. This value isn't universal, in the sense that it's the same for everyone, but it's no less objective, even though it's tied to the specific characteristics of an individual (system). Applying this logic to any source of value, we can arrive at a similar formula for individual objective value:

V_i = T_i * P_i

Where:
T_i: the expected objective amount of time a resource can actually add to a specific individual's lifespan (by saving you time and/or extending your lifespan) in a specific time interval;
P_i: the probability that this resource will perform exactly as expected, given your current capabilities (determined by statistics of similar, maximally similar cases).

Thus, true (objective) individual value is measured in units of time, i.e., days, hours, and minutes.

Let's explore this conclusion with a concrete example. Let's return to the same tiler. Let's assume he can lay your kitchen floor in 12 hours with a 95% probability, as he's an experienced craftsman. You, however, have never done it before, but you have the skills and the brains to do the same job in 64 hours with a 15% probability. What does a 15% probability mean in this example? It means that if 100 people with skills very similar to yours were given the opportunity to lay your kitchen tile, only 15 of them would achieve the desired result on the first try.

First, let's remember that, according to probability theory, to achieve the desired result, the time it will take you to lay the floor once, divided by the probability of achieving the desired quality:
The expected time is 64/15% = 426.7 hours (intuition clearly doesn't expect that much).

On the other hand, for a tiler, the ratio is: 12/95% = 12.6 hours.

As we can see, the risk of a professional making adjustments adds only 0.6 hours (about 36 minutes) of potential loss to their 12 hours of work to correct minor defects. Ultimately, such a tiler will save you a whopping 426.7 - 12.6 = 414 hours. That's more than 50 8-hour workdays.

Value can always be translated into monetary terms. An hour of your time is worth exactly your monthly income divided by the number of hours you work to earn that income. Therefore, the maximum rational price you're willing to pay a tiler is equal to the value of 414 hours of your time. For example, if your hourly rate is 100 dollars, then their services are objectively worth 41,400 dollars to you. And if the tiler asks for, say, only 5,000 dollars (not bad for two six-hour days), you're making a very good deal, receiving a huge surplus value (in the form of free time) that the market has undervalued. If all potential clients had the same skills and income as you, the distribution of individual values ​​would be concentrated around 41,400 dollars, and the market price would be close to this value. But in reality, the distribution is broader, and the tiler sets a price of 5,000 dollars, targeting mass demand. For this reason, the market price can differ significantly from the individual value.

Note that it is the probability of achieving the desired result, not the difference in hours of work, that determines the primary value. The tiler isn't primarily selling you 12 hours of work, but rather a reduction in the risk of non-fulfillment (RNF – one of the key concepts of the probability-time approach) from 100% - 15% = 85% (your risk of failure) to 5%.

Now let's take another logical, and perhaps most important, step toward defining objective and universal value and show that there exists an objective distribution of value as the product of the distributions of expected time received and the probability distribution of its receipt.

Up to this point, we've discussed the value of a resource for a specific individual (you, Jane, John, or Ainur). But the market is a meeting of many individuals. And here, the third thesis of the PTTV comes to the rescue: people's needs and preferences are subject to the laws of statistics.

This allows us to move from the individual to the universal. Imagine that we've assessed all potential buyers of the tiler's service. For each of them, we can calculate their individual objective value V_i = T_i * P_i, where T_i is the time that their skill will save this particular buyer (taking into account the buyer's salary, skills, etc.), and P_i is the objective probability of a high-quality installation for this particular type of flooring and by this particular person.

We'll end up with a huge array of V_i values. How will they be distributed? According to the central limit theorem (CLT), the factors influencing T_i (an individual's income, employment status, availability of free time) and the actual P_i (previous renovation experience, friends' advice) are independent and heterogeneous (this isn't entirely true, but at this level of consideration, it's not critical). Since these factors are multiplicative, the distribution of individual objective values V_i will tend toward a lognormal distribution (this is the main working hypothesis, requiring confirmation or even adjustment).

This distribution is the objective (universal) value of the resource in society (on the market).
If we plot this distribution, we see a classic bell-shaped curve. What does it mean?
1. The peak of the curve (the mode of the distribution). This is the most common valuation of the resource. It is the price at which the greatest number of people are willing to buy the resource. This is the "comfort zone."
2. The left tail of the distribution. This is where those for whom the resource is objectively of little use (for example, people who are excellent tilers and don't need the service, or those who are short of money—their T_i (time) is poorly converted into money).
3. The right tail of the distribution. This is where those for whom the resource is incredibly valuable (for example, a surgeon who counts every minute and is physically unable to do repairs himself—his T_i is enormous).

The market price we observe is not the value. It is simply the intersection of the demand curve (our distribution) and the supply curve. It is a liquidity marker, a compromise that allows the seller to sell the maximum volume without making the buyers feel cheated.

Now, knowing the distribution form, we can say that the intrinsic value of a resource exists objectively as a function of the distribution of individual objective values. It is measurable (via T_i and P_i) and serves as the foundation for understanding market prices, which are merely a projection of this distribution under conditions of specific supply and demand.

Key implications for economic science and practice:
1. Time is the universal equivalent of value. Different people convert time into money at different rates (due to profession, skills, and capital), but the substance of value itself is always life time, saved or extended.
2. The "objective vs. subjective" paradox is resolved. Value is simultaneously objective (since time and probability are measurable physical quantities) and subjective (since it is tied to a specific individual). The contradiction is resolved by statistics: individual objectivities form an objective distribution.
3. We obtain a tool for price forecasting. Knowing the distribution parameters of T_i and P_i for a representative sample, we can mathematically predict how demand will change when prices change, long before it occurs in the real market.
4. A new look at Surplus Value. In the tiler example, we saw that surplus value (the buyer's surplus) arises not from exploitation, but from differences in competencies (i.e., risks). The tiler creates value precisely because his P_i (the probability of success) is higher than that of the buyer.
5. All trade and production, in terms of the PTTV, is an exchange of time and risk. Countries and companies become rich because their institutions and technologies allow them to reduce the RNF (risk of non-fulfillment) for a large number of people more quickly and effectively than others.