Thinking Activity

Thinking Activity: The culture of Speed and the counter cultural of Slow Movement.

Hello friends,  

I am Nidhi Dave a student of Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. This Thinking Activity given by professor Dr. Dilip Barad sir. Here i discus about The culture of Speed and the counter cultural of Slow Movement.

The Culture of Speed and Slow movement:

Today man is constantly exposed to attacks of two dominant forces of the contemporary world, which organize and structure its logistic of perception: speed and technical images. Paul Virilio, the “high priest of speed” deals with the impact of speed on the contemporary world in his texts. Virilio’s theory shows the far-reaching extent to which the speed conquered all and everything over the centuries: transportation and production, peace and war, men and women, urban and rural areas, work and leisure time, arts and commerce. Virilio clearly shows us how the principle of acceleration of the word has taken root in professional and private lives of individuals and societies in both good and bad sense, and how it has changed and continues changing our standards, values, perceptions and mentality. Vilem Flusser speaks of “technical images” in general. Technical images furnish the space of our everydayness in a similar way as an architect furnishes a room with new furniture. Technical images work by supplying a reality where it is needed. Technical image is an abstraction of the third order. The technical image is an image produced by apparatuses. Our new arrangement of the world, new after the end of the age of linear writing, depends on two things – on apparatuses and on their programmes.

Paul Virilio - Dromology:

The word Dromology is derived from Greek noun 'Dromos' which is used for race or racetrack. With this meaning in his mind he coined the term Dromology which means "Science of Speed" According to Virilio Speed became the soul agent of progress. He further said that..

"There was no industrial revolution, 

only Dromocratic Revolution, 

There is no Democracy only Democracy, 

There is no Strategy only Dromology."

Dromos is an Ancient Greek noun for race or racetrack, which Virilio applied the activity of racing (Virilio 1977:47). It is with this meaning in mind that he coined the term 'dromology', which he defined as the "science (or logic) of speed“. Dromology is important when considering the structuring of society in relation to warfare and modern media. He noted that the speed at which something happens may change its essential nature, and that which moves with speed quickly comes to dominate that which is slower. 'Whoever controls the territory possesses it. Possession of territory is not primarily about laws and contracts, but first and foremost a matter of movement and circulation.'

Virilio clearly shows us how the principle of acceleration of the word has taken root in professional and private lives of individuals and societies in both good and bad sense, and how it has changed and continues changing our standards, values, perceptions and mentality. Vilem Flusser speaks of “technical images” in general. Technical images furnish the space of our everydayness in a similar way as an architect furnishes a room with new furniture. Technical images work by supplying a reality where it is needed. Technical image is an abstraction of the third order. The technical image is an image produced by apparatuses. Our new arrangement of the world, new after the end of the age of linear writing, depends on two things – on apparatuses and on their programmes.

TED-Talk on 'In Praise of Slowness':

Journalist Carl Honore believes the Western world’s emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there’s a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.

Honore’s bestselling book In Praise of Slowness plots the lineage of our speed-obsessed society; while it recognizes the difficulty of slowing down, it also highlights the successes of everyday people around the world who have found ways of doing it. In this video he talked about the speed movement. 

 According to Carl Honore “A world obsessed with speed, with doing everything faster, with cramming more and more into less and less time. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock.” He asked two questions. The first was, how did we get so fast? And the second is, is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down? So we are afraid that we might not do work at the time so we are trying to do something faster. A world obsessed with speed, with doing everything faster, with cramming more and more into less and less time. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock. To borrow a phrase from Carrie Fisher, which is in my bio there; I'll just toss it out again -- "These days even instant gratification takes too long." It is said in this video that we have to slow down now.  At the same time we have to pay some attention to nature and human being.

In the wrong progress we are making, we have to slow down and move towards slow movement nature. So in brief it is a kind of benefit of ‘Slow Movement’. We are going very fast but we have to be more alert about each and everything and specially what happens around us. So all of that said, is it, I guess, is it possible? That's really the main question before us today. Is it possible to slow down? And I'm happy to be able to say to you that the answer is a resounding yes. And I present myself as Exhibit A, a kind of reformed and rehabilitated speed-aholic. I still love speed.