If you understand how PoW works, you know why SN decided that block time is 10 mins and not 5 mins. When we have too many miners that speed up the bitcoin clock, difficulty adjustment slows it down so the nodes can have consensus. The slower the block time, the less likely the event that 2 valid blocks are found at the same time where we have to measure the chain tip weight to decide the winning chain tip. The losing chain tip wastes a lot of energy.
"The payee needs proof that at the time of each transaction, the majority of nodes agreed it was the first received. […] When there are multiple double-spent versions of the same transaction, one and only one will become valid. The receiver of a payment must wait an hour or so before believing that it’s valid. The network will resolve any possible double-spend races by then." - SN (2009)
Based on the SN's quote above, we should have decided that the block time is 1 hour. However, that might be too slow for some applications, so 30 mins seem better.
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