I Better Make This Quick

It is not that I am under any particular time pressure it is just that societies view of the world seems to be that quicker is better resulting in, amongst other things, a short attention span for most people.


I am not sure I understand this obsession with “faster” and “now”, especially with regard to the collection and dissemination of information, but all aspects of life suffer from this ideal. If for example you live in a quiet rural place your city cousins are likely to look down at your “slow pace of life” which is regarded as a bad thing (by them)

So there is one place where speed is a definite advantage and that is combat (any type, single combat or massed troops) Consider the cycle of receiving information, processing, deciding on a counter move and observing the response. If you can do this quicker than your opponent you are far more likely to win the battle, modern warfare for example is a lot about knowing where the enemy is and what they are doing so that your response is effective.

This “combat” model has been taken into the world of business, where once again you are often in competition with an opponent (or several) and your speed of decision making and ability to be agile and move to meet the market and out manoeuvre your opponent is an advantage.

However we seem to have let this mentality spill into our private lives and assume that speed is always an advantage.

Let’s look at slow, when is “slow” a good thing, well it seems to me that it is most often associated with pleasure. To chill out on a beach and read a book, to savour a lunch with friends and waste away the afternoon chatting over a glass of wine. To make love with your partner. These are some things where slow is a good thing.

So if speed is to do with combat and competition and slow is to do with pleasure, how come so much of our energy seems to be directed toward a “fast” life. I don’t know about you but my life seems to be going by much faster than I would like already so it is time to slow things down and presumably enjoy more.

In the book Catch 22 there is a character who tries to remain bored as much as possible as he has observed that time goes very slowly when he is bored and he is trying to live a long life. This might be taking things a bit far but the “slow down and smell the roses” line that we hear a bit does seem appropriate.

So sorry to take up so much time out of your busy life, or on the other hand take the time to have a coffee with someone today and ask them to share a memory of a great time with you. I bet it seldom has anything to do with a short, efficient, time bound, activity.