The tyranny of real time
Posted on 08 December 2009
A model for the Stockholm library (from the Long Now)
Globalisation and virtualisation have initiated a world time that prefigures a new kind of tyranny…Tomorrow, our history will be played out in the universal time of the instantaneous.
So warned Paul Virilio in uncharacteristically lucid terms for a French philosopher. Watching this talk from the CEO of Akamai (thanks to Dean over at Fusion Investing), it seems that we are about to make the next great leap forward.
What is intrinsically wrong with ‘real time’?
We are just not designed for it. Our machines might operate in nano-seconds, but even our most instinctive reflexes, the literal blink of an eye, require multiples thereof. With real time let loose on our waking selves, we are robbed of our ability to reflect. And reflection is one of those attributes that sets us apart from our peers on the evolutionary tree.
If you feel rushed in your day then consider what this contribution from Blackberry is really trying to say:
Why is Blackberry essential for my business? I can do more in less time…it goes on…On average Blackberry users recover an hour of downtime a workday
Now tell me what the hell is ‘downtime’?
Information dyssentry – where information passes straight through us as a stained and smelly liquid – is not what I want for my children. Yet perhaps that is why I can see that the transhuman is so absolutely necessary. Our offspring will manage the tyranny of real time with the aid of devices that we ancients would find truly abhorrent, but through this will retain the ability to reflect and to enjoy the sensual aspects of a fragrant meal and warm bed. Just maybe?
4 responses to The tyranny of real time
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Now tell me what the hell is ‘downtime’?
In the public service downtime is six hours per day in the private sector it’s 1-3 hours per day!
The studies I’ve read and my experience show Crackberries and even mobile phones decrease productivity, not increase. While a simple text message may take 10 seconds to read it often wastes five minutes or more in ‘interrupted time’.
As far as our wider society goes, look around at how busy middle class children are. Off to swimming lessons, then basketball followed by dance and maybe some music lessons with cricket squeezed in there somewhere. When do our kids get time to reflect? Time to amuse themselves. Time to span.
My partner and I used to relish spanning time together. We’d spend days simply spanning time and that is something I wish to ensure my kids can do. Viva la downtime!
Turn off, tune out, drop in…to yourself. It’s time for a new counter culture.
I like this quote “Our brains manufacture the illusion of a seamless flow of reality.” http://discovermagazine.com/2008/aug/11-how-your-brain-can-control-time/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=
Now tell me what the hell is ‘downtime’?
In the public service downtime is six hours per day in the private sector it’s 1-3 hours per day!
The studies I’ve read and my experience show Crackberries and even mobile phones decrease productivity, not increase. While a simple text message may take 10 seconds to read it often wastes five minutes or more in ‘interrupted time’.
As far as our wider society goes, look around at how busy middle class children are. Off to swimming lessons, then basketball followed by dance and maybe some music lessons with cricket squeezed in there somewhere. When do our kids get time to reflect? Time to amuse themselves. Time to span.
My partner and I used to relish spanning time together. We’d spend days simply spanning time and that is something I wish to ensure my kids can do. Viva la downtime!
Turn off, tune out, drop in…to yourself. It’s time for a new counter culture.
I like this quote “Our brains manufacture the illusion of a seamless flow of reality.” http://discovermagazine.com/2008/aug/11-how-your-brain-can-control-time/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=
Hmm – counter culture, kids – wonder how today’s children will assert their authority as rebellious youth?
It’s interesting to think that it’s the older folk that are rejecting today’s time – the Slow Movement etc. Kids don’t know any better.
So will they rebel by trying to take back time? Or will it be the polar opposite – that they incorporate the new time in their physical selves? A little chip enhancement here, maybe prosthetic limbs for a faster ride, why not just plug in to the mainframe?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m with the Slowists on this. But that doesn’t mean my kids won’t look at me as some kind of religious relic. In fact, isn’t that usually the way?
Hmm – counter culture, kids – wonder how today’s children will assert their authority as rebellious youth?
It’s interesting to think that it’s the older folk that are rejecting today’s time – the Slow Movement etc. Kids don’t know any better.
So will they rebel by trying to take back time? Or will it be the polar opposite – that they incorporate the new time in their physical selves? A little chip enhancement here, maybe prosthetic limbs for a faster ride, why not just plug in to the mainframe?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m with the Slowists on this. But that doesn’t mean my kids won’t look at me as some kind of religious relic. In fact, isn’t that usually the way?